The Minnesota Vikings have a lot of work to do to get under the salary cap before the new league year starts, and as the calendar flipped to March, they have gotten started.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, defensive tackle Javon Hargrave and running back Aaron Jones have been informed they will be released at the start of the league year unless a trade can be found. The two moves would clear $18.65 million in cap space, leaving the Vikings with a little less than $27 million to clear before they're down to the salary cap (let alone beneath it, so they can actually add or re-sign players).
Contract restructures are another path for the Vikings to clear big chunks of cap space. After it seemed inevitable he'd be gone this offseason, that now seems to be what will happen with tight end T.J. Hockenson.
But more cap casualties may be coming, and seem likely all things considered.
A Minnesota Vikings insider offers up a couple more potential (and easy) cut candidates
After the news about Hargrave and Jones, Alec Lewis of The Athletic offered a couple more potential cap casualties for the Vikings as they continue the effort to get compliant.
Javon Hargrave and Aaron Jones definitely release candidates, as @AdamSchefter said. Jones a difficult one considering what he’s meant to the locker room, would leave leadership void. Others to watch as part of the Vikings’ cap situation: Jonathan Allen and Ryan Kelly.
— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) March 1, 2026
After a season where he added to his troubling recent concussion history, Kelly lands as an easy cut candidate for the Vikings. When it comes down to it, given the recurrence of brain injuries last season, he should be strongly considering retirement.
Similar to Hargrave, Allen did not have the impact he was expected to have on the Vikings' interior defensive line last season. He also currently has the second-highest 2026 cap hit on the roster, just shy of $23.9 million according to Over The Cap, as part of the ill-conceived three-year, $51 million deal he got last offseason.
While moving on from Hargrave has moved toward inevitable, it has seemed the Vikings might be stuck with Allen for one more year. The structure of his deal for this year makes it more advantageous to make him a post-June 1 cut, but either way, a significant dead money hit is unavoidable. So the timing of the move to cut him, if it happens, may not make a difference in the effort to clear cap space.
With a starting quarterback on a rookie contract, the Vikings used that runway to spend big in free agency last offseason. A residual of that not paying off with even so much as a playoff appearance last season is the salary cap piper coming for his pound of flesh sooner than expected, and some notable cuts having to be made.
Jones and Hargrave are probably only the first two notable cap casualties for the Vikings, with Kelly and Allen potentially among those to follow.