The salary cap has been set for the 2017 NFL season and the Minnesota Vikings have more available to spend than more than half of the other teams.
Last season. the Minnesota Vikings squeezed as much mileage out of their salary cap as possible. Injuries and ailments forced the team to get several replacements, using nearly every penny of their available money for the year.
Thankfully, 2017 has a much better outlook. According to NFL.com. the salary cap for next season will be $167 million, an increase of more than $12 million from last year’s amount. This is the 4th straight year the increase has been $10 million or more.
OverTheCap.com has the Minnesota Vikings listed as having $37,949,218 available of their salary cap for 2017. This figure gives them the 14th most to spend on locking down their own players or bringing in free agents.
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Of course, the team will likely focus on getting a long-term deal done for cornerback Xavier Rhodes, who has ranked among the best in the NFL during the 2016 season.
More familiar faces will need a bit of that money to stick around, with guys like Captain Munnerlyn, Matt Kalil, Cordarrelle Patterson, and others scheduled to hit free agency on March 9, 2017 if a deal isn’t in place.
Minnesota will also be focusing on improving their offensive line this offseason, and likely will spend some of their salary cap on an offensive tackle to help out the struggling run offense and assist in pass protection.
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The Minnesota Vikings will be looking long and hard at many prospects in free agency, but will also be smart about their spending. With a solid defense in place and some weapons on offense, filling in some pieces could result in a very successful 2017 season.