2025 Free Agency

KOC on the radio today stated that he'd love to have Aaron Jones back in Minnesota next season. The RB spot is going to be one of the more interesting positions to monitor for the Vikings this offseason

supafreak84 wrote:
KOC on the radio today stated that he'd love to have Aaron Jones back in Minnesota next season. The RB spot is going to be one of the more interesting positions to monitor for the Vikings this offseason

Jones > Mattison

Koc luvs Jones > I do

supafreak84 wrote:
KOC on the radio today stated that he'd love to have Aaron Jones back in Minnesota next season. The RB spot is going to be one of the more interesting positions to monitor for the Vikings this offseason

I'd love to have Jones back...as RB2. I think it would be a pretty big mistake to go into 2025 with 30-year-old Jones are your RB1.

MaroonBells wrote:

I'd love to have Jones back...as RB2. I think it would be a pretty big mistake to go into 2025 with 30-year-old Jones are your RB1.

I think Jones is probably the odds on favorite to be RB1 next year.  I don’t know where we would get a better RB1.  He's the consensus best RB available in free agency. With as few draft picks as we have, you have to have a guy you are at least comfortable with starting prior to the draft.  I think we’ll resign Jones and Akers and hope we can fix the problem by upgrading the OL in free agency, then hope to draft a RB in the middle rounds that might be an upgrade, but I don’t think there’s going to be any sure path to getting a RB upgrade.  I can’t imagine we’re spending our first pick on one.

That said if we can pick up an upgrade in the 3rd or 4th, that'd be pretty special.

medaille wrote:

I think Jones is probably the odds on favorite to be RB1 next year.  I don’t know where we would get a better RB1.  He's the consensus best RB available in free agency.  With as few draft picks as we have, you have to have a guy you are at least comfortable with starting prior to the draft.  I think we’ll resign Jones and Akers and hope we can fix the problem by upgrading the OL in free agency, then hope to draft a RB in the middle rounds that might be an upgrade, but I don’t think there’s going to be any sure path to getting a RB upgrade.  I can’t imagine we’re spending our first pick on one.

That said if we can pick up an upgrade in the 3rd or 4th, that'd be pretty special.

That Jones is the #1 free agent RB says more about how bad this year's free agent RB class is than it does about Jones. 

I'd love to have him back. There's a lot of security in knowing he's there. But only for cheap, only for 1 year, and only in a time share at most. I think we either make a trade for either Breece Hall or Travis Etienne or take a RB high in the draft, assuming we've covered a couple other needs in free agency.

MaroonBells wrote:

That Jones is the #1 free agent RB says more about how bad this year's free agent RB class is than it does about Jones. 

I'd love to have him back. There's a lot of security in knowing he's there. But only for cheap, only for 1 year, and only in a time share at most. I think we either make a trade for either Breece Hall or Travis Etienne or take a RB high in the draft, assuming we've covered a couple other needs in free agency.

It does, Jones had a nice year, but he was also wearing out as the year progressed. 

I would much rather have a Judkins / Henderson over Hall or Etienne. We need to get younger and have someone who can grow right alongside JJM. 

But we obviously have more pressing needs elsewhere. Bad yr to be without a pick in 2nd rd. 

Not sure a trade-down nets a D player and a RB.

I think the FA class this year lines up well with our needs. Some good CB options and we can always try to bring back Gilmore and Griffin. Aaron Jones makes sense at RB if he's willing to come back for a reasonable price. The interior OL has some good options and if we can get Milton Williams to add to our DL...

BOOM

That'll free us up to trade down in the first, accumulate more picks, and add a good RB on Day 2 and have a couple picks to add depth on offense and defense.

This off-season should be all about using our cap space and draft picks to fix glaring weaknesses on the roster and keep adding weapons around JJ McCarthy.

MAD GAINZ wrote:
I think the FA class this year lines up well with our needs.  Some good CB options and we can always try to bring back Gilmore and Griffin.  Aaron Jones makes sense at RB if he's willing to come back for a reasonable price. The interior OL has some good options and if we can get Milton Williams to add to our DL...

BOOM

That'll free us up to trade down in the first, accumulate more picks, and add a good RB on Day 2 and have a couple picks to add depth on offense and defense.

This off-season should be all about using our cap space and draft picks to fix glaring weaknesses on the roster and keep adding weapons around JJ McCarthy.

Not my first choice, I would not freak if they brought Griffin back. I think Gilmore is done. 

Running game and good D are a young QB's best friend...Has to be their priorities.

purplefaithful wrote:

Not my first choice, I would not freak if they brought Griffin back. I think Gilmore is done. 

Running game and good D are a young QB's best friend...Has to be their priorities.

I agree about Gilmore. I think there's a chance we do try to bring Griffin back. He's 29 and shouldn't cost very much. If we can add one free agent like Charvarius Ward, then either a high draft pick or Byron Murphy, we should be OK. Ward, Murphy (or 1st rounder), Griffin, Blackmon and McGlothern wouldn't be too bad.

According to Jeremy Fowler at ESPN, the "sense" is the Vikings are going to let Byron Murphy walk in free agency and re-sign Cam Bynum to a new deal.

Not sure I agree with that, but between the two I agree that Bynum should be the priority

I think the sense is that Murphy is going to be overpaid…  :cool: :angel:

Bynum needs priority, but our secondary will need serious shoring up, and without many draft picks to help. We need another brilliant defensive FA run from the front office.

Then again, maybe some unexpected gems can help our center/OG situation...because that's still the biggest issue facing the offense (besides the annual QB kerfuffle).

Kentis wrote:
I think the sense is that Murphy is going to overpaid…  :cool: :angel:

He will get paid like a 1. Expected to play like a 1 and deliver like a 3. We see it all the time with Cbs that have big INT year

Albert Breer reporting what we already expected in that the Vikings will not tag Darnold and let him hit the open market. Possible he could be transition tagged still allowing the Vikings the chance to match an offer, but the Vikings would not receive a comp pick next offseason (2026), if he was transition tagged. Noted the Vikings really like McCarthy and are comfortable going into next season as the starter as long as he is able to regain his weight and strength over the next few weeks.

supafreak84 wrote:
According to Jeremy Fowler at ESPN, the "sense" is the Vikings are going to let Byron Murphy walk in free agency and re-sign Cam Bynum to a new deal.

Not sure I agree with that, but between the two I agree that Bynum should be the priority

You could see this coming a mile away. I'd love to have Murphy back, but the money that comes with 6 INTs and a Pro Bowl nod is much more than he's worth. If we don't re-sign Murphy, corner goes from being #1 priority to being #1 with a flashing red light and siren.

Canthony wrote:

He will get paid like a 1. Expected to play like a 1 and deliver like a 3. We see it all the time with Cbs that have big INT year

Todd Scott.

Canthony wrote:

20 Mil a year? That is steep. I mean its on par with what we paid Hutchingson with the poison pill trade. In the sense of percentage of cap space used that is. I think we could get just as much production for a little less in FA IMO.

Kwesi's m.o. has been finding value in the f.a. market and Smith wanting to be the highest paid OG doesn't fit that. I don't think his talent justifies it either. I agree that we can find decent talent at a better price point.

comet52 wrote:

Kwesi's m.o. has been finding value in the f.a. market and Smith wanting to be the highest paid OG doesn't fit that.  I don't think his talent justifies it either.  I agree that we can find decent talent at a better price point.

I agree. He showed some vulnerability in the Super Bowl. He's still among the best out there, but we could probably get two mid-tier IOLs for the $20M Smith is going to get. 

It's the same with Murphy. His estimated market value is $22M per, which is madness to me, while Charvarius Ward and DJ Reed are around $15M each. There's also an under-the-radar corner in Philly named Isaiah Rodgers who the Eagles probably won't re-sign due to their absolutely stacked secondary. He's a Kwesi-type free agent: high PFF grades and probably won't command more than $3-4M.

Albert Breer reporting what we already expected in that the Vikings will not tag Darnold and let him hit the open market. Possible he could be transition tagged still allowing the Vikings the chance to match an offer, but the Vikings would not receive a comp pick next offseason (2026), if he was transition tagged. Noted the Vikings really like McCarthy and are comfortable going into next season as the starter [b]as long as he is able to regain his weight and strength over the next few weeks.[/b]

Logical and exactly what the intent by the team was the day they signed Darnold. The bolded part cracks me up (saw the same quote by Breer), like somehow there's a question of it happening. The team has instructed and overseen JJM every step of the way in this recovery process and losing weight was a step in this process. Gaining that weight and strength back is another part of the process and has commenced. One can't start said process until another part of the process has completed. And it will take more than a 'few weeks' for that to happen fully, but he'll be there and then some come May OTAs....which is also part of the process.

MaroonBells wrote:

I agree. He showed some vulnerability in the Super Bowl. He's still among the best out there, but we could probably get two mid-tier IOLs for the $20M Smith is going to get. 

It's the same with Murphy. His estimated market value is $22M per, which is madness to me, while Charvarius Ward and DJ Reed are around $15M each. There's also an under-the-radar corner in Philly named Isaiah Rodgers who the Eagles probably won't re-sign due to their absolutely stacked secondary. He's a Kwesi-type free agent: high PFF grades and probably won't command more than $3-4M.

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Well that's just it, I think we are all tired of "mid tier solutions" that never end up being solutions when it comes to the offensive line. That strategy hasn't worked for us. We aren't competing with Philly, Detroit, or even the Rams by trying to tinker on the cheap. Spend the money and fix the problem.

supafreak84 wrote:

Well that's just it, I think we are all tired of "mid tier solutions" that never end up being solutions when it comes to the offensive line. That strategy hasn't worked for us. We aren't competing with Philly, Detroit, or even the Rams by trying to tinker on the cheap. Spend the money and fix the problem.

When I say mid-tier I don't mean cheap. As I've said before, there's a big gap between what would be an upgrade for us at IOL and the crazy money at the top of the market. For example, Trey Smith's market value is estimated to be $20M per. He's a great run blocker, but Teven Jenkins is the same age, has a higher overall grade and a better pass blocking grade and his est. market value is $10M per. That's what I'm talking about. Or Matt Fries at $14M. Mekari at $10M. It's looking for the Greenards and the Van Ginkels and avoiding the crazy money at the top (see Danielle Hunter). And on a line where you're already paying Darrisaw and O'Neill big money, signing a guy like Smith to a long-term contract doesn't make a lot of sense to me.