The Minnesota Vikings are in a position where they could be buyers at the trade deadline. Sitting at 5-1 with a quasi-3.5 game lead in the NFC North, the Vikings have excellent odds to take their first NFC North crown since 2017.
One of the ways the Vikings can improve their chances to make a run this season is by making a trade and improving the roster this year. We have explored in a few pieces so far about what the Vikings could or should do at the deadline, but there is a catch. The Vikings don’t have a lot of cap space.
There are ways around that, but they can be costly. We identified four ways for the Vikings could create cap space.
Previous articles:
3 positions they could target
Zulgad on Odell Beckham Jr.
Zulgad on Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
Should the Vikings trade for Elijah Moore?
The Vikings should trade for Jerry Jeudy
Restructure Brian O'Neill
The one contract that the Vikings could restructure that would make sense for the Vikings and not cripple them long-term would be O’Neill. A true stalwart at right tackle, O’Neill will factor into the Vikings plans for a long time. Unlike extending either Dalvin Cook or Eric Kendricks, there wouldn’t be any issues worrying about dead money. It’s still not an ideal scenario for the Vikings, as O’Neill has cap hits of at least $19 million each of the next four seasons.
Extend Dalvin Tomlinson
The Vikings have been excellent up front and that is mainly due to the success of Tomlinson. When the Vikings initially signed him to a two-year contract worth $21 million, they were expecting him to play 3-technique. With the move to the 3-4 defense, he has been playing a lot at the 5-technique which as suited him quite well. The Vikings also have $2.5 million in each of the next three years committed in signing bonuses to Tomlinson, as the deal he signed contained three void years. They could ease the cap hit by $5 million next year and just over $1.5 this year with an extension. This would be a move that would be both short and long-term.
Restructure or extend Eric Kendricks
The big issue with restructuring or extending Kendricks’ contract is answering the question as to whether the Vikings view him as a cornerstone piece the next couple of seasons. He is under contract through the 2023 season with a salary of $9,150,000 this season and next season. They could clear $2,960,294 in cap space by restructuring his contract. They also could extend him and add void years to lessen the blow. This is all based on the idea that the Vikings want him long-term and don’t plan on moving on from the 2015 second-round pick, as doing so would save the Vikings $9.5 million on the 2023 salary cap.
Pay extra draft capital to have them restructre the contract
One of the things that the Rams were successful at was using their draft capital to add that final piece to a Super Bowl team. They especially were last season when they traded for the Broncos edge rusher Von Miller. The Rams didn’t have cap space to take on Miller’s contract, so they gave them extra draft capital for the Broncos to eat nine million dollars, leaving the Rams with a shade over $700,000 to pay Miller. That money also cost the Rams more draft capital, as they send their 2022 second and third-round picks to the Broncos. The Vikings could choose to do something similar to add a player to the team in order to make a run this year.
