Vikings sign 2019 first-round pick, re-structure Kendricks’ deal

The Minnesota Vikings worked their salary cap magic, once again, on Tuesday and figured out a way to sign center Garrett Bradbury to his rookie contract.

Heading into the 2019 NFL Draft, many assumed that the Minnesota Vikings were likely going to make a few roster moves in order to free up some much-needed salary cap space.

The Vikings didn’t make any roster moves during the draft and it left everyone wondering how exactly they were going to afford to sign their rookie class. But this is Minnesota we’re talking about and by now, no one should doubt their abilities to make mind-boggling moves that defy logic when it comes to the salary cap.

On Tuesday, the Vikings announced that they had agreed to a deal with rookie center Garrett Bradbury. Minnesota selected Bradbury this year with their first-round draft selection to help improve the team’s offensive line in 2019.

Prior to Tuesday’s signing, the Vikings reportedly had around $664,000 in cap space. Certainly not enough to afford Bradbury’s anticipated 2019 cap hit of $2.3 million, so Minnesota also had to make another move.

In order to create enough money to sign this year’s first-round pick, Minnesota was able to re-structure the current contract of linebacker Eric Kendricks. The Vikings gained around $1.7 million in extra cap space after reportedly converting half of Kendricks’ 2019 base salary into a signing bonus.

The re-structure allowed Minnesota to sign their top draft pick, but now they have a very small amount of money remaining. With less than $1 million left in spending money reportedly remaining, expect the Vikings to be making more moves to create additional cap space in the near future.