Despite the disappointing record, this Vikings team is not in a rebuild.
Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap recently tweeted a statistic that will tell you why.
The Vikings are among the teams with the least cap space in 2022 at the moment. Minnesota is projected to be $11.4 million over the 2022 salary cap, per Fitzgerald. That mark is the fourth-worst in the NFL.
Notably: the three teams with less projected cap space than the Vikings in 2022 — the Saints, Packers and Cowboys — are all squarely in contention this year.
Indeed, Minnesota built its roster for the short term. The Vikings have veteran players on one-year deals, but the team also has some veterans like S Harrison Smith and WR Adam Thielen locked in for the long term.
Least projected salary cap space in 2022
1. Saints- $66.3M over
2. Packers- $46.1M over
3. Cowboys- $19.1M over
4. Vikings- $11.4M over
5. Giants- $8.4M over
6. Falcons- $3.4M over
7. 49ers- $2.2M over
8. Rams- $180K
9. Bills- $5M
10. Cardinals- $10.7M— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) November 7, 2021
The Vikings signed Kirk Cousins through 2022. However, Cousins’ deal is so big that it’s difficult to see the Vikings making huge splashes in free agency next offseason. Unless, the team ends up moving on from the quarterback.
