Vikings Free Agency 2020: Recap of a crazy Day 1

The Minnesota Vikings didn’t waste any time making moves on Monday when they had their first opportunity to begin building their roster for the 2020 season and beyond.

For the Minnesota Vikings and the rest of the NFL, the new league year technically doesn’t begin until Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET. But on Monday, every team in the NFL had the opportunity to begin negotiating new contracts with players scheduled to hit the free-agent market this year.

As for the Vikings, they made a number of big decisions on Monday that should have a tremendous impact on their upcoming season and in the years to follow.

So what were some of the moves made by Minnesota on the first unofficial day of the 2020 free agency period?

Cousins gets his stay extended

If the Vikings wanted to make any sort of legitimate improvements to their roster this year, they were going to need to figure out ways to create more cap space. One option to do this was to extend Kirk Cousins’ current contract and lower his 2020 cap hit.

Well, this is exactly what Minnesota decided to do on Monday as they gave Cousins a two-year extension worth $66 million with $61 million of it being fully guaranteed. In addition to the quarterback getting a pay raise, the Vikings also lowered his cap hit by $10 million for this year, giving them more money to take care of some needs.

Harris gets the surprise franchise tag

In what was originally thought to be the biggest shock of the day, Minnesota decided to use their franchise tag on free-agent safety Anthony Harris. Just about every indication seemed to point toward Harris signing with another team this year, but the Vikings apparently wanted to keep him around badly enough that they used their franchise tag for the first time since 2011.

With the tag, Harris gets his first big payday ($11.4 million in 2020) and Minnesota gives themselves some time to potentially negotiate a longer deal with the safety before the start of next season.

Minnesota brings back some key contributors

Heading into the offseason, much of the Vikings’ focus was expected to be on retaining their own free agents and this is exactly what they began to do on Monday.

Minnesota and fullback C.J. Ham agreed to a new four-year deal, the Vikings then placed a second-round tender on linebacker Eric Wilson, and then the team was able to agree to a new three-year contract with punter Britton Colquitt.

Unfortunately, one of Minnesota’s own free agents also got away on Monday as defensive end Stephen Weatherly ended up agreeing to a two-year deal with the Carolina Panthers.

Vikings finish the day with a bang

Just when everyone thought it was safe to relax for the evening, Minnesota decided it was the perfect time to pull off a blockbuster trade.

After months of rumors swirling all over the place, the Vikings decided to trade receiver Stefon Diggs and they sent the talented receiver to the Buffalo Bills. In return, Minnesota received multiple draft picks which included an additional first-round selection for this year.

It was a move that was speculated about for months and the Vikings did a great job of not giving away any hint of an intention to trade Diggs. But in the end, Minnesota couldn’t turn down the offer from the Bills and the guy who was on the receiving end of the “Minneapolis Miracle” is now headed to join the Mafia in Buffalo.