Top 5 depth chart positions where the Vikings spend their money
By Dustin Baker
Honorable Mention
- Special Teams – $4.66 million (2.36% of 2020 cap, 22nd in NFL)
- Running Back – $5.21 million (2.64% of 2020 cap, 26th in NFL)
- Tight End – $12.79 million (6.48% of 2020 cap, 11th in NFL)
- Wide Receiver – $19.01 million (9.63% of 2020 cap, 24th in NFL)
In 2020 as it stands right now, the Vikings offensive skill position players combine to account for about 19% of the salary cap. This can be interpreted as a perk of the Stefon Diggs trade to Buffalo, a somewhat team-friendly deal for wideout Adam Thielen, or a significant and collective underpayment to the team’s trio of running backs. Pick your favorite talking point.
Even more interesting is that of the approximately $37 million spent on offensive skill position personnel, 58% of it is going to the pockets of Adam Thielen and Kyle Rudolph, or $21.6 million dollars. If one is curious as to why Dalvin Cook is requesting a pay raise, in the grand scheme of the NFL machine–this is a boldfaced clue as to why.
Cook notched about 30% of the team’s yards from scrimmage in 2019 whilst being compensated about one percent of the team’s salary cap.
As for the special teams unit, these players are generally paid lesser compared to other positions, so this $4.66 million total is not all that surprising.