It's no secret that the Minnesota Vikings' 2022 draft class, which was the first under general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, didn't exactly work out the way the organization had hoped.
Of the 10 players taken that year, eight are no longer with the club, as safety Lewis Cine (Round 1-waived), cornerback Andrew Booth (Round 2-traded), offensive guard Ed Ingram (Round 2-traded), linebacker Brian Asamoah (Round 3-waived), cornerback Akayleb Evans (Round 4-waived), defensive tackle Esezi Otomewo (Round 5-waived), offensive tackle Vederian Lowe (Round 6-traded), and tight end Nick Muse (Round 7-waived) simply didn't work out for one reason or another.
The two players who remain on the Minnesota roster, of course, are fifth-round running back Ty Chandler and sixth-round wideout Jalen Nailor.
But that may not be the case for much longer, as both are set to become unrestricted free agents. And if predictions from Vikings insider Alec Lewis of The Athletic come to fruition, both will indeed be suiting up elsewhere in 2026.
Minnesota Vikings predicted to part with both Ty Chandler and Jalen Nailor in free agency
Lewis recently took the time to share his thoughts on a dozen Vikings players who will soon hit the market, and while he believes a few will return to Minnesota, neither Chandler nor Nailor was part of that group.
Here's what Lewis had to say on Chandler.
"The fifth-rounder never progressed the way the Vikings hoped. Chandler was dynamic as a runner, which was evident even late this season, but he was inconsistent.
Chandler missed most of the year with an injured knee. Even with the Vikings’ lack of running back certainty for 2026 (besides Jordan Mason), a change of scenery feels likely."
That's a pretty spot-on assessment.
After getting just six carries as a rookie, Chandler had a bit of a breakout campaign in 2023, backing up Alexander Mattison, rushing for 461 yards and three touchdowns on 102 carries, while adding another 159 yards on 21 receptions.
But in 2024, with the arrival of Aaron Jones, Chandler's production took a hit, and he ultimately ended up behind Cam Akers on the depth chart. And as Lewis mentioned, he missed most of the 2025 season with a knee injury, appearing in only three games and rushing for 47 yards on 17 carries.
The 27-year-old could conceivably be brought back as a depth piece, but his departure does indeed seem imminent, as the Vikings could add such a piece in the late rounds of April's draft.
Nailor, of course, is viewed as a far bigger piece of the Vikings' offensive attack than Chandler. While he didn't get many opportunities to shine over his first two seasons, although the second was hindered by a hamstring injury that landed him on injured reserve for a month and a half, the Michigan State alum has been a solid WR3 behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison for the last two years, tallying 57 catches for 858 yards and 10 touchdowns.
And that production may just make him too expensive for Minnesota to bring back, as Lewis mentioned in his section on the soon-to-be 27-year-old.
"For years, the Vikings have communicated their confidence in Nailor. He validated the belief in 2025.
Not only did he play in all 17 games after a broken hand affected him in training camp, but also he dropped only one pass. Nailor knows all of the positions in coach Kevin O’Connell’s complex offensive system. He is stout enough to stick his face in the fan as a run blocker.
In the four years general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has been making draft picks, Nailor is his best late-round success story.
Other teams see his value, and he’s expected to have a sizable market, especially among teams in the NFC. The Vikings didn’t broach the subject of an extension throughout the season."
An interesting aspect about Nailor is that he's developed some strong chemistry with J.J. McCarthy, perhaps the strongest of any pass-catcher on the Minnesota roster, including Jefferson.
So, the Vikings may have to take that into account if they genuinely intend to keep moving forward with McCarthy under center.
What also has to be taken into consideration, however, is the fact that they used a third-round pick last year on Tai Felton, who saw just three targets this season, catching all three for 25 yards.
Teams typically don't use Day 2 picks on wideouts without some sort of plan, and perhaps that plan was just to get him on the roster, knowing that 2025 would be Nailor's last season.
If the Vikings could get Nailor back for $5 million per season on a new contract, they likely would. But with him possibly in a position to command upward of $10 million a year on a new deal, he's likely played his final snap in Minnesota.