Who are some of the more affordable free agents for the Minnesota Vikings to consider adding to their roster during the 2023 offseason?
As the 2023 NFL free agency period approaches, the current Minnesota Vikings roster is somewhat in flux, and there is still plenty of roster maneuvering forthcoming to help general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah add cap space to fill holes.
The Vikings will likely be restricted in their spending, but there are several intriguing free agents projected to earn $3 million or less who could help them in 2023.
Let’s look at seven affordable free agents that make sense for Minnesota in 2023. Player values were taken from OverTheCap.com’s Valuation data.
Free Agent No. 1
Nik Needham – CB
2022 Team: Miami Dolphins
The current Vikings cornerback room includes Cameron Dantzler, Andrew Booth Jr., Akayleb Evans, and the recently signed Kalon Barnes.
Patrick Peterson, Duke Shelley, Kris Boyd, and Chandon Sullivan will all be free agents this year, but Minnesota will likely find a way to get Peterson back, and Shelley has earned another contract after filling in admirably last season. However, Boyd and Sullivan are not guaranteed to be back, so Nik Needham could be another inexpensive option.
The 27-year-old former Dolphins corner has played in 51 career games, with 27 starts, and has held his own so far into his career. Holding a completion rate of 60.4 percent and 25 passes defended during his career, the 2019 undrafted free agent has the potential to be a very useful cornerback for the Vikings.
Unfortunately, he was only able to play in six games in 2022 (five starts) due to a serious Achilles injury that he suffered in Week 6 against Minnesota.
Over The Cap’s valuation for Needham in free agency is $1.4 million dollars, making him an affordable and viable depth option in a position of need.
Other affordable corner options for the Vikings include Fabian Moreau ($2.2 million valuation) and Emmanuel Moseley ($3.1 million valuation), but Needham is a good low-risk option to bounce back and contribute in dime packages or if Dantzler and Evans continue to struggle to stay on the field in 2023.
Anthony Walker Jr. – LB
2022 Team: Cleveland Browns
The Vikings’ linebacker depth is also in question at the moment, with the team parting ways with Eric Kendricks and there also being rumblings of Jordan Hicks being let go.
Regardless of what scheme new Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores will deploy and which linebackers stay put, the depth of the position group needs to be addressed.
Anthony Walker Jr. spent four seasons with the Indianapolis Colts before signing with the Browns, where he’s played the last two years. Walker has played in 73 games, starting in 63, but the 28-year-old’s 2022 campaign was cut short as he suffered a season-ending quad injury in Week 3.
Prior to the injury, the Northwestern product averaged 4.2 solo tackles and 2.2 assisted tackles per game throughout his career.
Over The Cap has Walker valued at $1.2 million dollars, which is another affordable contract that could provide great value. Azeez Al-Shaair is another inexpensive free-agent option for the Vikings at $1.5 million, though Walker’s sideline-to-sideline tackling suits the team’s needs more.
Eric Rowe – S
2022 Team: Miami Dolphins
Safety is not the Vikings’ most pressing need, with Harrison Smith, Lewis Cine, Camryn Bynum, and Josh Metellus currently signed through 2023. But a team can never have too many solid safeties on their roster.
With Cine recovering from a season-ending injury and Smith – one of the defense’s perennial leaders over the last decade – not getting any younger, a low-cost, plug-and-play safety like former Dolphin and two-time Super Bowl champion Eric Rowe could prove to be a good insurance policy for injuries, or if Cine continues to develop at a slow rate.
Playing in exactly 100 NFL games, Rowe has managed five interceptions, and 41 pass breakups, with six forced fumbles in his career. Over The Cap has Rowe valued at $876k, which is just above the league minimum and, therefore, attractive.
Johnathan Abram and Keanu Neal are also cheap free-agent safety options valued below $2 million dollars for Minnesota, though each has struggled to find a home in recent years, and both lack the versatility that Rowe possesses.
Shaq Lawson – DE/OLB
2022 Team: Buffalo Bills
With both Dalvin Tomlinson and Jonathan Bullard unsigned for the 2023 season, the depth of the Vikings’ defensive line is thin at the moment.
Harrison Phillips, Khyiris Tonga, James Lynch, Esezi Otomewu, and Ross Blacklock are an unspectacular but solid enough group. However, Tomlinson will be a significant hole to fill if Minnesota doesn’t bring him back.
If the Vikings elect not to sign another above-average starter, Shaq Lawson could be a veteran option instead as either a defensive lineman or an edge rusher.
Not known as much of a run stopper, the former Dolphins and Bills defender has played in 93 career games, racking up 25 sacks and 70 quarterback hits during his time in the league.
Since getting pressure on opposing teams’ quarterbacks was a huge problem for Minnesota in 2022 (which may have been more of a scheme issue than a talent issue), Lawson could be an inexpensive source of penetration between the tackles.
Over The Cap has Lawson valued at $2.4 million, which is affordable and could be a solid option. Other free-agent defensive line options for the Vikings could include Trey Flowers, who has had a strong eight-year career but has struggled to stay healthy in recent seasons, and Jerry Tillery, who has experience but is inconsistent.
Zach Pascal – WR
2022 Team: Philadelphia Eagles
With Justin Jefferson firmly entrenched as the Vikings’ No. 1 wide reciever and the clear centerpiece of this offense, we saw a fair amount of regression from Adam Thielen in 2022, leaving his future in Minnesota in question.
The good news is that K.J. Osborn made strides last season and earned the trust of quarterback Kirk Cousins, so he could be in line for more targets and a jump into the No. 2 receiver role in 2023, leaving Jailen Nailor and Jalen Reagor to compete with Thielen for the No. 3 reciever spot, if he returns.
Nailor has shown flashes, and he could be a reasonable No. 3 receiver that stretches the field, but Reagor was pretty much a gadget player only on offense. In the end, Minnesota’s No. 3 receiver in 2022 was, at best, the fifth read on most plays last season, and he can likely expect the same treatment in 2023.
One option to bring in is Zach Pascal, who started in just two games in 2022 with the Eagles as a depth option after a four-year tenure with the Colts, during which he racked up 1,888 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Pascal’s not flashy, but the 2017 undrafted free agent is valued at only $2.1 million and could provide veteran depth and security should injuries play a factor for the Vikings’ receivers in 2023.
Jalen Guyton is another cheap free-agent wide receiver option for Minnesota this year, though he is still recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in 2022 and is not guaranteed to be healthy for the beginning of the upcoming season.
D’Onta Foreman – HB
2022 Team: Carolina Panthers
Another position with much uncertainty in Minnesota at the moment is at tailback, where Dalvin Cook is in line for a cap hit of more than $14 million in 2023, and Alexander Mattison is going to be a free agent.
There is no guarantee that either will return to the team in 2023, so someone like D’Onta Foreman is a cheap option should the team need a replacement.
Foreman enjoyed a career season with the Panthers in 2022 after Christian McCaffrey was traded to the San Francisco 49ers. Racking up 914 rushing yards with five touchdowns, Foreman’s first year as a bell cow back for an NFL team was a success.
Over The Cap has him valued at $2.4 million, which is very affordable for a starting caliber halfback should Cook not return.
Not a home run hitter, Foreman is large for a tailback, listed at 6-foot and 233 pounds, but he runs north-south between the tackles and excels in short yardage situations, something the Vikings weren’t particularly consistent at in 2022.
Other cheap free-agent running back options for Minnesota this year include Rashaad Penny, who appeared well on his way to a solid season in 2022 before a season-ending injury, and D’Ernest Johnson, who has been stuck behind both Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt in Cleveland his entire career.
Bradley Bozeman – C/OG
2022 Team: Carolina Panthers
The Vikings’ center of the past four seasons, Garrett Bradbury, is going to be a free agent this year, though there have been reports of the team’s interest in re-signing him. There are several affordable replaceable options in free agency, however.
Bradley Bozeman has played five NFL seasons, four of which were with the Baltimore Ravens, before signing with the Panthers for just a single season in 2022.
Bozeman played 97 percent of snaps during his three seasons as the starter for the Ravens, and he has only drawn 13 career flags.
Over The Cap has him valued at $2.1 million, which makes him a cheaper option than Bradbury. But if Minnesota opts to run a zone-blocking run scheme next year, Bradbury’s elite ability to hit landmarks could make him the better value, despite his below-average pass blocking.
Other free-agent interior offensive linemen for the Vikings to consider this offseason include Nick Gates, who has played both center and guard and could add more versatility, and David Edwards, who suffered multiple concussions in 2022, but was an integral part of the Los Angeles Rams 2021 Super Bowl winning team.