After finishing the regular season with 14 wins, the Minnesota Vikings had high hopes heading into their first game of the 2024 playoffs on Monday against the Los Angeles Rams. Unfortunately, the Rams had other plans and they sent the Vikings home with a disappointing 27-9 loss.
After Monday's result, KSTP-TV shared an emotional reaction from Minnesota safety and team captain Josh Metellus.
#Vikings do-it-all defender Josh Metellus, as stand-up as it gets, very emotional as the season ends: pic.twitter.com/XthMujRwnw
— KSTPSports (@KSTPSports) January 14, 2025
"[It's] tough man. I think the relationships in the building, that's what hurts the most. Losing this team, losing what we built from the ground up, [we've] got some amazing guys in this building, and it sucks that today was our last day all being together."
Josh Metellus knows the Minnesota Vikings defense could look very different in 2025
In addition to Monday's loss, Metellus was likely emotional over the fact that a number of notable Vikings defenders might have just played their last game with the franchise.
Multiple Minnesota starters and key defensive contributors are scheduled to hit free agency in March including cornerbacks Byron Murphy Jr., Stephon Gilmore, and Shaq Griffin, safety Camryn Bynum, edge rusher Patrick Jones II, and defensive linemen Jerry Tillery, Jonathan Bullard, and Jihad Ward.
With the Vikings currently projected to have over $69 million in cap space when the new league year begins in March, they'll definitely be able to re-sign a bunch of their impending free agents. But not all of them will return as Minnesota will also want to use some of its cap space in 2025 to add some new talent to the roster in free agency.
Throughout the season, multiple members of the Vikings roster shared how they were having some of the most fun they've ever had playing football, and that enjoyment is likely why Monday's loss seemed to hit extra hard for Metellus and other members of the team's locker room.
With head coach Kevin O'Connell still leading the charge, Minnesota will still have fun playing football in 2025, but it's clear that the 2024 team had a special bond that will be hard to top.