2027 and beyond; An Accounting/Cap Perspective
Yes. The Vikings are in a very good position to pay a quarterback a big contract in 2027—and, importantly, their current roster construction gives them more flexibility than you might expect.
What makes 2027 particularly interesting
Several things line up:
2027 situation | Vikings outlook |
|---|---|
QB salary | Very low unless they extend Murray/another QB |
Justin Jefferson | Already under contract |
Christian Darrisaw | Already under contract |
Brian O'Neill | Contract runs into 2027 |
Dallas Turner | Rookie contract |
J.J. McCarthy | Rookie contract |
Jordan Addison | 2026 decision point |
T.J. Hockenson | No 27 commitment |
Jonathan Greenard | Any dead $$? |
Harrison Smith | Aging/veteran contract provides potential flexibility |
Overall cap | Plenty of mechanisms to create room |
Minnesota could realistically be in one of these situations entering 2027:
Scenario A — Murray is excellent
They could give Murray something like:
4 years / $200–240M
and structure it so the 2027 cap hit is relatively modest initially.
That's absolutely financially feasible.
Scenario B — McCarthy finally establishes himself
Even better financially.
They'd have McCarthy on the final year of his rookie deal in 2027 and could decide whether to give him a massive extension. They'd have the ability to build the extension around his 2027–28 cap numbers.
Scenario C — Neither is the answer
This is where their financial situation becomes extremely valuable.
They could pursue a veteran QB in free agency and/or draft another quarterback without already having $50M committed to the position.
The Vikings have already demonstrated that they are comfortable pushing money into future years and manipulating cap charges. And a new QB contract can itself be structured to have a relatively low first-year cap number.
AI
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
The really important number: $327 million
The Vikings' existing 2027 commitments are substantial, but their current cap sheet is nowhere near a situation where a $50M quarterback is impossible.
OTC's calculator has:
2027 projected salary cap: $327.0M
The current roster commitments leave room for substantial additions, and—crucially—many of Minnesota's 2027 numbers are not necessarily the numbers they'll actually carry into the season.
That's where this gets interesting.
Their biggest 2027 cap numbers
The four contracts I'd pay the most attention to are:
Darrisaw — ~$27.9M
O'Neill — ~$28.4M
Jefferson — ~$21.2M
Fries — ~$21.5M
That's about $99M combined.
Minnesota could potentially restructure/extend some of those contracts if it needed additional 2027 space.
And there are also contracts that simply won't necessarily be on the roster in their current form.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
I was thinking something like 3 years, $141 for K1. Gives him top 16 or so dollars and the ability to sign one more multi year deal. Assuming of course he comes through.
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here”
Shakespeare
JustInTime wrote:
I was thinking something like 3 years, $141 for K1. Gives him top 16 or so dollars and the ability to sign one more multi year deal. Assuming of course he comes through.
Yah, 3 year might benefit both parties the most. But I think the # with a very good season would be $150-$155mm
And it goes w/out say for sure ; lots of ifs/ands/buts in that conversation
But wth, I have a week to play around till GB.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
He’d actually be in the top ten with the contract I propose. That should work.
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here”
Shakespeare
JustInTime wrote:
He’d actually be in the top ten with the contract I propose. That should work.
This might actually be the biggest positive legacy KAM left?
Or did Brez/Flo/KOC make the hard decisions to get the cap in a better shape than KAM left it in?
I'm not smart enough (or have enough energy) to answer that well....
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
In search of pass rush help, the Vikings signed outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy to their practice squad, reuniting the 35-year-old with defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
They have continued to leave the door open for the return of Harrison Smith, should the 37-year-old safety decide to play a 15th season for the Vikings.
“I know that KO [coach Kevin O’Connell] and him have a unique relationship, and they keep in touch,” General Manager Nolan Teasley said Wednesday. “It’s really up to Harrison, ultimately, but we’re always open to adding good football players.”
Should either of those two veterans take the field this fall, they would be outliers on a team that will be younger than it has been in several years. The 2026 Vikings are built on younger players after an offseason shift toward a roster construction their acting GM deemed to be more sustainable.
Rob Brzezinski, who’s managed the team’s salary cap for more than three decades, led the Vikings front office for the key four-month stretch between Kwesi Adofo-Mensah‘s Jan. 30 firing and the decision to hire Teasley on May 30.
During that time, the Vikings detached themselves from expensive veterans like Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave, while retaining draft picks to replenish a roster that lacked for young players during Adofo-Mensah‘s tenure.
Brzezinski, the team’s executive vice president of football operations, said this spring that the Vikings needed to rein in salary cap expenditures — not because of a mandate from ownership to cut spending, but because of his own belief that continually outfitting the roster with veteran free agents would lead the team to a breaking point.
“We have to allocate our resources the best that we see fit,” Brzezinski said then. “We’ve spent a lot of money the last few years, and the spending from a salary cap standpoint is not sustainable. Regardless of when people say the salary cap isn’t real, you might not be paying the bill the very day that you’re writing the check, but it comes due.”
A year after the Vikings spent more cash on their roster than any team in the NFL, they have the fourth-lowest average cash spending figure in the league, according to Over the Cap. And with eight picks on the roster from the draft Brzezinski oversaw, the Vikings are headed back toward one of the league’s younger locker rooms.
Two years ago, the Vikings roster had an average age of 26.9 years, which was tied with the Dolphins for the oldest in the NFL, according to an annual study from Philly Voice. Their initial 53-man roster was slightly younger in 2025, dropping down to an average of 26.4 years, but the team was still the ninth-oldest.
This year, the first Vikings 53-man roster had an average age of 26.1, dropping the team back to the 12th-youngest roster in the NFL. If Smith were to come back, it’d change the math. But Hargrave (33) and Allen (31) are gone, and 33-year-old center Ryan Kelly retired this offseason because of concussions.
The Vikings, a year after selecting just five players in Adofo-Mensah’s final draft as GM, have all but one of nine their 2026 draft picks on their roster. Fullback Max Bredeson, a fifth-round pick, seems set to play a significant role on offense, while as many as five defenders (first-round pick Caleb Banks, second-rounder Jake Golday, third-rounders Domonique Orange and Jakobe Thomas and fifth-rounder Charles Demmings) could see playing time on defense this year.
“We’re really lucky in this building that we have a coaching staff that has the ability to develop and the mindset to develop,” Teasley said. “... We’ve seen all of our players improve on a daily basis, and so really excited about the trajectory of the draft class. That’s an opportunity to highlight the work done by Rob Brzezinski and the rest of the staff that was here that navigated a unique offseason.”
For the Vikings to be successful in 2026, they’ll need development to continue. Banks might still need time to assume a meaningful role on defense; Teasley called defensive run game coordinator Ryan Nielsen ”a developer of men” who will continue to work with the first-round pick. Jakobe Thomas and undrafted free agent Jacob Thomas could play in a safety group that’s lost depth with veteran Jamal Adams out for the season and Smith in limbo.
And though Van Noy gives the Vikings another pass rusher, they are counting on 2024 first-round pick Dallas Turner to become the kind of pass rushing presence that helps made up for the loss of Jonathan Greenard in a draft-day trade to Philadelphia.
“Everybody has a role that allows us to build this football team,“ Teasley said. “It started a long time ago, and it’s never going to stop.”
Brzezinski is back in his role managing the team’s salary cap. He directed a major shift in the Vikings’ roster-building approach this offseason, and even if he’s away from the spotlight this fall, his fingerprints on the 2026 Vikings won’t be hard to see.
Strib
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
Canthony wrote:
We are going to have to pay Turner soon as well. He will demand a good chunk of money. Then we have a decision about Addison.
For sure, and I don’t see another clear wr2 on the team - at least yet. I will not be shocked if Addison gets a bag here.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
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