How is your mustache game?
As we slog through the offseason, we look forward to the next organized team activities.
The schedule is …
OTAs: May 27-28, May 30, June 2-3, June 5, June 16-18
Mandatory Minicamp: June 10-12
One thing I often do is look to next year and I examine the salary cap. This helps to possibly inform what players I want to watch in college football this year.
The Vikings currently are at negative 38.5M for next season. They do have 14.2M remaining on this year’s cap which some may be carried over.
Season Total Liabilities Team Salary Cap Cap Space
2025 $269,826,051 $284,053,803 $14,227,752
2026 $334,072,533 $295,500,000 ($38,572,533)
2027 $234,455,822 $311,000,000 $76,544,178
The team is going to have to make some serious adjustments.
It is interesting that they have not touched Brian O’Neill’s contract yet.
He has a 26M cap hit this year which is the highest on the team.
Next year he has a 23.2M cap hit and it would be his last season under contract.
He turns 30 on Sept 15th.
It is very plausible that he could play well until he gets to 33 years old.
Maybe the team is waiting to see how O’Neill performs before offering another extension?
If he does not do as well as they want (for the money he is getting) then they could be looking for another tackle in next year’s draft.
Walter Rouse and Logan Brown are nice prospects but may not ever become starters.
Harrison Smith will be 37 next year and they would have to eat another 7.7M if he is not on the team.
Maybe they do retirement type contract where he has a minimum salary and then they can release post June 1st?
It is going to be difficult to envision much activity in free agency next year.
I could see the team taking a tackle in the first round next year very easily.
The Vikings’ Cap Space is Sinking Faster Than a Boulder in Lake Minnetonka
Minnesota Vikings News and Links
Vikings’ NFC North title odds get longer as NFL gifts Lions clear edge in 2025 schedule
The Lions will face the NFL’s third-toughest schedule based on combined opponent win percentage from last year, but the league’s schedule makers did Detroit a solid which should give it a clear edge over the Vikings and fellow division counterparts Green Bay and Chicago.
Per NFL analyst Warren Sharp, the Lions will play eight games this season with a “rest edge,” meaning their opponents will have fewer days between games on eight separate occasions. No team in NFL history has played more than six games with a rest edge in a single season, according to Sharp, until the 2025 Lions.
The Vikings, in comparison, will play two games with a rest edge and four at a rest disadvantage in 2025. One of them will be Week 9 at Ford Field against the Lions, who will be coming off a bye in Week 8.
Kevin O’Connell’s mustache steals the show in Vikings’ behind-the-scenes video
The Minnesota Vikings weren’t all business during the NFL draft. In fact, Kevin O’Connell walked into the draft room on the third day sporting a fake mustache, a joke that appears to have been inspired by general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s impressive ‘stache.
The revelation of O’Connell’s lighter side was part of a 24-minute video featuring behind-the-scenes moments during the draft.
“That looks good, dude,” Adofo-Mensah told O’Connell.
Later in the video, O’Connell is shown on phone call with personnel from an unidentified NFL team.
“Yeah, as long as you guys don’t do something shady on us,” O’Connell said with a laugh before tossing someone’s bag of Doritos in the trash.
“Does anybody else have any trash I need to pick up here? Oh, hold on, let me get that for you,” O’Connell quipped.
The behind-the-scenes video includes parts of the private phone calls the Vikings made to each of their five draft picks: offensive lineman Donovan Jackson, wide receiver Tai Felton, defensive lineman Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, linebacker Kobe King, and tight end Gavin Bartholomew.
“Donovan is a great kid. Awesome to be around. He was up here for top 30 and I think he’s going to fit in the locker room really well,” college scout Jake Essler told the draft room. “He’s big, tough strong. He’s going to fit in really well.”
Ryan Grigson, Minnesota’s senior vice president of player personnel, also raved about Jackson.
“He’s wired right. Sarted 40 games in the Big Ten. He’s played tackle, he’s played guard, and he’s produced at a high level,” Grigson said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNrMU6FOTII
Big playoff changes could come as NFL owners meet in Minnesota next week
While at Minnesota Vikings headquarters — TCO Performance Center — Tuesday and Wednesday next week, owners will vote on a playoff seeding proposal from the Detroit Lions. If approved, the proposal would see four division winners and three wild-card teams make the playoffs in each conference, but all seven would be seeded by record.
Under the current format, which has stood since the NFL-AFL merger in 1966, division winners are awarded the top seeds, with the wild-card spots going to non-division winners with the best records.
Had such a format been in place last season, the Minnesota Vikings, who went 14-3, would’ve been the No. 3 seed rather than the No. 5 seed. They would’ve hosted a first-round game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Instead, they had to go on the road and they were obliterated by the Los Angeles Rams, who snuck into the playoffs by winning the NFC West with a 10-7 record.
49ers extension of Brock Purdy is stark reminder why Vikings bet on J.J. McCarthy
Ultimately, the Vikings chose to move on from Cousins, absorbing $28.5 million in dead salary cap in the process. It was a move the Vikings wanted to make for flexibility purposes, and it gave them a ton this offseason, which they used to beef up the trenches
One of the reasons that the Vikings didn’t want to pay Cousins long-term was they weren’t getting elite play out of him while paying elite money. It was a gutsy move to enter the NFL Draft without a proven option at quarterback, but Sam Darnold hit in a big way and they picked J.J. McCarthy in the process.
They got a nice reminder of how why they chose to move on from Cousins on Friday when the San Francisco 49ers signed quarterback Brock Purdy to a massive extension.
Yore Way Too Early 2026 Mock
Trade Recap
Minnesota Receives: 2026: Round 1, Pick 15, 2026: Round 7, Pick 218
Dallas Receives: 2026: Round 1, Pick 18, 2026: Round 4, Pick 118
…
Minnesota Receives: 2026: Round 2, Pick 52, 2026: Round 6, Pick 213
Houston Receives: 2026: Round 2, Pick 50
…
15. Caleb Downs S Ohio State 6’0” 205
52. Gennings Dunker OT Iowa 6’5” 316
82. Zxavian Harris DL Mississippi 6’7” 320
97. Josh Moten CB Marshall 6’0” 164
174. Jonah Coleman RB Washington 5’9” 227
213. Dane Key WR Nebraska 6’3” 209
218. Ricardo Hallman CB Wisconsin 5’10” 185
232. Da’Shawn Womack EDGE Mississippi 6’5” 260
Again, we all know the rules, but in case someone is new:
- No discussion of politics or religion
- No feeding of the trolls
- Leave the gender hatred at the door
- Keep the bad language to a minimum (using the spoiler tags, if you must)
- Speaking of which, if discussing a newer show or movie, please use spoiler tags
- No pictures that could get someone fired or in serious trouble with their employer
- If you can’t disagree in a civil manner, feel free to go away
- While navigating the open thread, just assume it’s sarcasm