With Super Bowl LIX in the books, the NFL world will quickly turn its attention to the NFL Combine in two weeks, free agency in mid-March, and the NFL Draft at the end of April. 31 teams, including the Minnesota Vikings, left the season disappointed. However, now is the time for hope, and every team will think they got better by the time the 2025 season starts.
Heading into the offseason, the Vikings have a lot of cap space but many players with contracts expiring and limited draft capital. They will need to act prudently to continue to improve the team from a Wild Card flameout to a championship contender. To figure out how to do that, I’ve ranked Minnesota’s needs, considering the urgency of adding a player at the position and the cost.
basic Football needs
This tier is reserved for important positions that are missing starters. For the 2025 Minnesota Vikings, it only includes one position:
Cornerback
Byron Murphy, Stephon Gilmore, Shaquill Griffin, and Fabian Moreau combined for 2,598 of Minnesota’s 2,620 snaps at CB last year. All four are scheduled to be free agents. Dwight McGlothern, who played just 19 snaps as a UDFA, is the only CB remaining on the Vikings roster. Mekhi Blackmon, who missed all of last season with injury, should also be back. However, it’s hard to count on a player coming off a significant knee injury.
The Vikings will need to invest heavily in the CB position in the offseason, and they should prioritize bringing Murphy back. Gilmore, Griffin, and Moreau were always planned as stopgap options, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the team moved on from them. However, if they do, it will require them to bring in two other outside players at a minimum.
high-cost needs
This tier looks at a pair of Minnesota’s weakest position groups from 2024. While the Vikings are scheduled to have no one in the room in the tier above, the team has players capable of filling starting roles at these positions. However, they’ll need to upgrade them to become a true contender.
Interior Defensive Line
After the Philadelphia Eagles dominated the Kansas City Chiefs up front, the interior pass rush is bound to be a talking point for Vikings fans and most teams across the league. The Vikings have been lacking an effective interior rusher for years.
Brian Flores has done a great job of mitigating that need with scheme, but having an interior rush on early downs could help take the defense to the next level. The challenge will be in filling that need.
Philadelphia’s Milton Williams will be the gem of the FA class, but he was a rotational player because Jalen Carter was the true driver of their success. The Vikings likely need to bring back Jonathan Bullard to feel sound defending the run on early downs. Then, they should try to make a splash for a pass rusher like Williams, Osa Odighizuwa, or an early draft pick.
Interior Offensive Line
Last year, I had IOL in the “Low-Cost Needs” section. It’s a credit to Minnesota’s 2024 offseason that the IOL need has moved up in the priority order. Still, it’s a negative that the IOL continues to be a struggle for the team. Technically, the Vikings have five starters under contract. However, Ed Ingram was benched for a reason, and Blake Brandel really struggled down the stretch.
Dalton Risner, an impending free agent, was mediocre until he was a disaster in the Wild Card round. Garrett Bradbury has $5 million in base salary that it would be easy for the Vikings to move on from. It’s time for Minnesota to make a serious run at improving the position, whether it’s bringing a star free agent or taking one early in the draft.
Safety
This position is on here simply because the Vikings will need to spend significant money to bring back Cam Bynum, an impending free agent.
That will address the position, although it’s noteworthy that there’s a strong chance that the legendary Harrison Smith will retire, meaning that another player will need to step up to fill his role. If Smith does move on, I suspect the Vikings like RFA Theo Jackson enough to bring him back and trust him to start.
However, safety suddenly becomes a big concern if that hunch is wrong, or if they’re unable to come to a deal with Bynum and Smith also retires.
Low-cost needs
Now we move on to positions where the Vikings clearly need to add starters, but the position won’t require a first-round pick or more than $10 million per year to fill.
Running Back
Aaron Jones performed admirably last year, but he and Cam Akers are free agents. Unfortunately, the 2025 free-agency class is nowhere near the quality of last year’s, so Jones is probably the best option again in 2025. Ty Chandler is best as a special teamer and depth player, so hopefully the Vikings will add another player on top of Jones, like a mid-round draft pick.
Punter
Ryan Wright is a restricted free agent. The Vikings don’t have anyone else waiting in the wings, so they’ll either need to bring Wright back, which should be easy, or to the free-agency or rookie classes to find a different option. Wright is about league average as a punter, so there’s a chance they could improve on him by moving on. However, it could also get much, much worse.
depth needs
So far, we’ve gone through all the positions where the Vikings need to find starting answers this offseason. They also have depth needs across the team, so let’s look at positions where they can help round out the roster.
Quarterback
This is a matter of perspective. Breaking down what the team should do at QB this offseason could probably fill a book, but I feel that the Vikings believe in J.J. McCarthy and will treat him as the likely starter heading into this season.
I could see an argument to make this the No. 1 priority for the team if you think they should bring back Sam Darnold long-term. I don’t fall into that camp, so I only have the team needing a backup QB. Darnold, Nick Mullens, and Daniel Jones are all FAs, so the Vikings will need to spend to bring one of them back. I think Jones is the most likely as he continues to try to rehab his image under Kevin O’Connell‘s tutelage.
Offensive Tackle
Brian O’Neill is a quality starter, and Christian Darrisaw is one of the best LTs in the game, but he is coming off of a significant injury. Cam Robinson, who was brought in to help replace the injured Darrisaw, is a free agent and will be difficult financially to bring back as a backup.
Teams are so OL-hungry that he’ll get paid somewhere. David Quessenberry, the team’s swing tackle, is also an impending FA. Therefore, the team needs to find an option to back up O’Neill and Darrisaw and potentially start if Darrisaw is still recovering at the start of the season. Walter Rouse is the in-house option, but there’s a good chance the team will also look to bring in someone from the outside.
Off-Ball Linebacker
Blake Cashman was awesome last year, and Ivan Pace is a spark plug as a run defender.
In an ideal world, the Vikings might improve on Pace’s coverage, but that will be difficult. Realistically, they need better depth options in case their starters struggle with injuries again. Kamu Grugier-Hill, who got some playing time with Cashman hurt, is heading towards FA, so the Vikings will need to bring him back or find someone else they’re willing to give playing time this offseason.
Tight End
The Vikings have a great starting combo in T.J. Hockenson, one of the best TEs in the game, and Josh Oliver, an excellent blocker. However, depth TE Johnny Mundt is an FA again. I expect him to be back, but this is a need until the Vikings make that move.
Wide Receiver
The Vikings have the best WR in the game in Justin Jefferson, and an emerging star in Jordan Addison as their second option. Jalen Nailor was a really strong third WR last year and will still be around, but the Vikings need to fill out their depth at the position, particularly with blocking WRs.
Trent Sherfield and Brandon Powell are FAs, so the team must bring them back or find equivalent replacements. I suppose you could also look to upgrade Nailor. However, his speed element is a big plus, so it should be low on the list of priorities for the team.
Edge Rusher
The Vikings have three edge rushers to be very excited about — Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Dallas Turner. However, they also have over 900 combined snaps from Jihad Ward and Pat Jones walking out the door.
Ward was key to Minnesota’s pass-rush plan last year but could be made obsolete by adding an interior pass rusher. Due to his age, he would also be very easy to bring back on a cheaper deal. Either way, he’s a depth piece. Jones is likely going to a team that provides him more opportunity, so Turner will have to step up in an increased role in his second year.
self-actualized positions
This segment is reserved for the few positions where the Vikings don’t need to make any roster moves this offseason.
Long Snapper
Andrew DePaola is coming off another All-Pro season and is under contract through 2025.
Kicker
Rookie Will Reichard got injured in 2024 and had a few misses after coming back. Hopefully, he can return to his early-season form in 2025, where he made all his first 34 kicks.
Fullback
C.J. Ham is a versatile chess piece and was trusted the most as a third-down pass protector this year. The 31-year-old will be a free agent after 2025, but he has the fullback position locked down for at least one more year.
When you stack all of the needs together, it creates this nice little pyramid.
Does that joke work two years in a row?