Why the Vikings should move on from Irv Smith Jr. in 2023 no matter what

Currently in the final year of his contract with the Minnesota Vikings, tight end Irv Smith Jr. is someone the team should not bring back in 2023.

On Tuesday, Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters that he expects tight end Irv Smith Jr. to be a full participant in practice when the team holds the first full-team session of their 2022 training camp on Wednesday.

Smith missed the entire 2021 campaign after suffering a knee injury last summer that required him to undergo surgery.

It was an unfortunate injury for the young tight end as many were raving about his performance during last year’s training camp. Smith will definitely be looking to pick up where he left off last summer with the Vikings.

Investing in Irv Smith Jr. after 2022 would not be wise for the Minnesota Vikings

It’s quite possible that we could see a breakout performance from Smith during the upcoming season. He’s the No. 1 tight end on Minnesota’s depth chart, and he could benefit from opposing defenses placing most of their attention on Justin Jefferson, Dalvin Cook, and Adam Thielen.

But even if Smith does have himself a career year in 2022, he’s not someone the Vikings should bring back after his contract expires in 2023.

First, his injury history is not something that screams “invest a lot of money in me!” In addition to missing the entire 2021 season, Smith was also sidelined for three games in 2020 due to injury.

The other reason why Minnesota should stay away from a second contract for the young tight end has to do with their new offensive scheme. Now, O’Connell will likely make some tweaks to the offense that he ran with the Los Angeles Rams last season. But the scheme that the Rams have used for the last few years isn’t one that is known for carving out a big role for tight ends.

Based on some of the tight ends Minnesota has added this offseason like Johnny Mundt, Shaun Beyer, and rookie Nick Muse, the team seems to be more concerned about the blocking abilities of their tight ends and not their receiving skills.

So what happens if Smith explodes during the upcoming season and he winds up earning his first Pro Bowl selection? The Vikings should still let him walk in 2023.

If Smith plays well this year, he will likely be able to get much more money from another team in free agency than he could get from Minnesota, who will be scraping for as much cash as possible to pay Jefferson in 2023.

So with the way things are trending for the Vikings, it would be pretty surprising to see Smith return to the team for another season in 2023, regardless of how he performs this year.