On of the biggest areas of concern for the Minnesota Vikings throughout the 2024 season was along the offensive line — particularly the interior of the offensive line. Minnesota was hampered by injury along the line with starting left tackle Christian Darrisaw going down with a knee injury. However, they found a solid replacement for Darrisaw with a trade for Cam Robinson.
The interior, on the other hand, was a problem all season long. Now, with the Vikings sitting on over $60 million of cap space in free agency, how many of them will be back in the purple and gold next season? According to one Vikings beat reporter, it could be very few of them — if any at all.
Recently, Minnesota Star Tribune’s Vikings beat writer Ben Goessling took a look at all of the Vikings’ impending free agents, along with players who could be candidates to have their contracts restructured or be cut before the free agency period kicks off. In his analysis, he’s predicting some major changes along the offensive line for the team.
Last season, guard Dalton Risner was looking for a big deal in free agency to be a starter for someone. That deal never came, and he eventually landed back in Minnesota on a lesser deal. Risner eventually worked his way into the starting lineup, and a very similar scenario could play out this season, according to Goessling.
Out of all the Vikings’ offensive linemen, Risner could be the one most likely to return to the Vikings in 2025, as Goessling has guards Blake Brandel and Ed Ingram, and center Garrett Bradbury all listed as either cut or restructure candidates.
Goessling writes that if the Vikings are looking to even further pad their salary cap cushion, both Brandel and Ingram could be on the outside looking in. The Vikings would save themselves from having to pay Ingram $5.2 million next season if he were to be cut, and would only take on $385K in dead money in doing so.
On the other side, if the Vikings were to cut Brandel, they would be able to save $2.58 million against the cap. If Brandel is on the roster on the third day of the new league year, his $1.65 million salary for 2025 becomes guaranteed, so expect a decision on him to come fairly soon.
As for Bradbury, the Vikings have some options with him. Bradbury has struggled with his health in recent years, and even when healthy he has struggled against some of the league’s bigger and more athletic defensive tackles. That could lead the Vikings towards cutting him and saving $3.6 million against the cap.
However, Bradbury is well-liked and well-respected within the Vikings’ locker room, and that could lead Vikings’ brass to keep him around for at least another season. Bradbury does have two void years built into his contract that the Vikings could use to restructure his deal and keep him around for at least another season.
One thing is for certain, the Vikings have a lot of question marks — and a lot of flexibility — when it comes to the offensive line and how they want to fix things going into the 2025 season.