The Vikings terminated the contracts of Linval Joseph and Xavier Rhodes, freeing up cap space as free agency approaches.
That means Minnesota can somewhat be buyers, starting March 18 when free agency hits. They have just under $20 million in space in this year’s salary cap at the moment, so they’re not going to land multiple big names. However, the Vikings still have some options. Here are some things I think they will do going forward.
1. Minnesota will re-sign Everson Griffen
Everson Griffen voided his contract with the Vikings this offseason, but that move wasn’t surprising. Griffen’s contract was a $13 million cap hit before he voided it.
Now, Minnesota could sign Griffen for less money, and they currently have adequate cap space to do so. Spotrac doesn’t have any projected market value on Griffen just yet, but I think if he wants to sign for under $10 million, the team could make it work.
2. The Vikings will re-sign Mackensie Alexander
Minnesota has a plethora of decisions to make when it comes to the defensive back core. Rhodes might not be back, or he might re-sign for cheap, and there are also corners like Mackensie Alexander and Trae Waynes entering free agency.
The team might not have the money to re-sign Anthony Harris, unless it starts to cut some more players and maybe makes a trade.
However, Alexander is affordable and has been very good in his nickel corner slot. Nickel corner can be a tough adjustment for some young NFL corners who are used to being out wide all the time in high school and college, but Alexander has proven to be pretty good at nickel. And, he could almost certainly play out wide if that was necessary. Maybe the Vikings would want to add another cornerback besides Alexander, Mike Hughes, and the reserves they have right now, but Alexander coming back would still greatly help this team.
3. Minnesota will cut Riley Reiff
If Minnesota wants a chance at re-signing Harris or landing any free agents that could help this team, they need to make more decisions that will free up space in the salary cap.
A decent plan would be to cut Reiff. The Vikings save $8.8 million if they terminate Reiff’s contract, and it creates $4.4 million in dead money. I’m fine with re-signing Reiff to a smaller deal after that, but I don’t know if keeping him under contract as it is would be the best plan of action for Minnesota. Cutting Reiff doesn’t free up a ton of space, but it makes some difference. The Vikings will have to decide on Reiff’s future soon.
