The offseason has been a success for the Minnesota Vikings, but what could happen between now and the start of the regular season?
By most accounts, the offseason has been a success for the Minnesota Vikings. With a spending spree on defense, a retooling in the draft, and a pair of late additions, the Vikings will hope that they’ve done enough to lead themselves back into the playoffs in 2021.
While the Vikings have crossed plenty of items off their shopping list, the offseason isn’t over. With training camp one month away, they still have time to make a move to add depth or sign a current player to a contract extension.
The action will continue once they enter training camp, where several young players will be vying for an increased role. With draft picks such as Wyatt Davis and Christian Darrisaw looking to crack the lineup, others such as D.J. Wonnum, Harrison Hand, and Tyler Conklin will be looking to move up the depth chart.
With 10 weeks to go until the Vikings season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, we’ll take a look at some of the things that could happen over the remainder of the offseason.
Minnesota will agree to a contract extension with O’Neill
The Vikings have struggled to build their offensive line for the past decade, but they seem to have solved the problem this offseason. With the addition of Davis and Darrisaw, Minnesota finally has bigger, stronger players in the trenches and can’t afford to screw it up.
That’s why Brian O’Neill is about to get paid.
O’Neill has been the Vikings’ best lineman since being selected with the 62nd overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Initially a project out of Pittsburgh, O’Neill entered the starting lineup midway through his rookie season and has been one of the few constants along the offensive line.
The best part about O’Neill is that he has continued to improve. O’Neill’s overall Pro Football Focus grade has increased each season and his 78.0 overall grade was the highest on Minnesota’s offensive line in 2020. O’Neill has also improved in pass protection, allowing a total of five sacks in his first three seasons.
The Vikings had to be thinking of O’Neill when they designated Kyle Rudolph as a June 1 cut, putting aside an extra $7.9 million in cap space. With that money in place, Minnesota is around $14 million under the cap and can offer O’Neill a contract in the neighborhood of La’El Collins (five years, $50 million with Dallas), Halapoulivaati Vaitai (five years, $45 million with Detroit) and Jack Conklin (three years, $42 million with Cleveland).
With his performance and the Vikings cap situation, it would be a surprise if the two sides didn’t reach a deal before the start of training camp.
Hunter will have to wait for his contract extension
While O’Neill won’t have to wait long for his next contract, Danielle Hunter is in a different situation.
For all the money that was dumped into the Vikings’ defense this offseason, they won’t go anywhere without Hunter. The 27-year-old collected 14.5 sacks in each of the 2018 and 2019 seasons but missed the 2020 season with a neck injury. With Yannick Ngakoue leading the way (for six games), Minnesota recorded just 23 sacks last season.
Hunter’s importance to the defense would suggest the Vikings should try to lock him up as soon as possible. But while he’s worthy of becoming the highest-paid edge rusher in the NFL, there are other factors that will give Minnesota hesitation.
The biggest question mark is Hunter’s health. Given the severity of his neck injury, it’s possible that Hunter may not be as effective as he was in the past. That may seem preposterous, but Mike Hughes seemed to have a promising future before breaking his neck late in the 2019 season. After struggling to stay on the field, Hughes was traded to Kansas City last May.
That’s not to suggest Hunter will be on the same path as Hughes, but it complicates the decision to give him an extension. That’s why instead of just paying Hunter, the Vikings decided to give him $5.3 million of his salary as a signing bonus to make sure he’s on the field. If Hunter produces, the two sides can revisit Hunter’s contract situation next offseason when he’s due an $18.5 million roster bonus.
Minnesota has done a great job over the years of rewarding their players for their performance. While they would probably like to sign Hunter long-term, the factors surrounding that decision make this a wait-and-see situation.
It won’t take long for Darrisaw and Davis to start
One of the most troubling developments in minicamp was the status of Christian Darrisaw and Wyatt Davis. While the Vikings used a first and third-round selection to bolster their offensive line, neither rookie took reps with the starters during minicamp.
Seeing Rashod Hill and Dakota Dozier in the starting lineup is enough to give Minnesota fans PTSD, but it’s a temporary issue.
Darrisaw came into minicamp limited after suffering a groin injury in the weeks after the draft. Although he worked behind Hill, there’s no reason the Vikings would use the 23rd overall pick in the draft to select Darrisaw if they didn’t think he’d play right away. Darrisaw didn’t allow a sack during his final season at Virginia Tech, so it’s a safe bet he’ll be the starting left tackle in Week 1.
The same goes for Davis, who was selected 86th overall in April’s draft. While his bar is lower trying to overtake Dozier, it could be a situation where head coach Mike Zimmer wants to stick with what he’s familiar with (for now).
With the way Zimmer has talked about his offense this offseason, there could be very little reason to change things up in his eyes. Remember that Zimmer tried to go with young players on defense last season and it wound up producing the worst defense he’s ever had.
In a worst-case scenario, Darrisaw and Davis wouldn’t crack the starting lineup until late in the preseason, but it’s going to happen. With everything on the line this season, Zimmer can’t afford to get in his own way.
Beebe will retain the third receiver role
With the Vikings addressing the guard position, the new question on the offense may be, “can he play receiver?” Minnesota has two of the best in the NFL in Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, but the depth chart behind their two stars is troubling.
The Vikings had several chances to address the third receiver position during the offseason but chose to re-sign Chad Beebe. While Beebe knows the offense and helps Zimmer sleep better at night, his limited athletic profile won’t strike fear into the heart of defenses.
The counter to this argument is that Minnesota doesn’t use three-receiver personnel to validate an upgrade. According to Sharp Football Stats, the Vikings were last in the NFL using three-receiver sets 29 percent of the time. Minnesota was also just one of two teams, along with the Tennessee Titans, to use three-receiver sets under 40 percent of the time.
That’s why they didn’t jump at the opportunity to sign a receiver in free agency and their only meaningful addition was fifth-round pick Ihmir Smith-Marsette. While the Iowa product has some supporters, his production at Iowa wasn’t encouraging and may not translate to an immediate role with the Vikings.
This leaves Beebe as their best option entering training camp. Although there’s a chance they could add a receiver, Zimmer believes his offense is fine and Beebe should benefit.
Vikings will add an edge rusher prior to training camp
While the Vikings have dumped more than $40 million into their defense this offseason, they still have an issue along the defensive line. Getting Danielle Hunter back on the field is a good thing, but Minnesota will rely on second-year player D.J. Wonnum and returning free-agent Stephen Weatherly on the other side, which may not be enough.
The Vikings could be comfortable with that duo but they haven’t shown it throughout the offseason. Minnesota struck out trying to sign Carl Lawson and Trey Hendrickson in free agency and was linked to Kwitty Paye and Jaelan Phillips in the weeks leading up to the draft.
Although they took Patrick Jones II and Janarius Robinson in the later rounds, both seem to fall into the “Pet Cat” category Wonnum was labeled as last year.
There aren’t many good options left in free agency but adding someone like Melvin Ingram would give the Vikings another veteran presence along the defensive line. With an established starter, he can help mentor some of the younger projects while also helping Minnesota stay competitive this season.