Heading into this offseason's free agency period, the Minnesota Vikings were already expected to have a good chunk of change to spend. But now, the Vikings are going to have even more money than anticipated.
According to NFL Media's Tom Pelissero on Wednesday, the NFL informed all 32 teams that the salary cap amount for the 2025 season is going to fall between $277.5 million and $281.5 million. Considering the league's 2024 salary cap was set at $255.4 million, it will be a significant increase even if $277.5 million is the amount the NFL decides to select.
Based on the current construction of their roster, the Vikings could potentially have a little over $65 million to spend in free agency when the new league year begins on March 12th if the salary cap is set at $281.5 million. Regardless, Minnesota is going to easily have the most cap space it has ever had during an offseason since the team hired head coach Kevin O'Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in 2022.
Could more money create more problems for the Minnesota Vikings?
The Vikings were already going to have a solid amount of cap space this year before Wednesday's report was shared, and now, they're going to have even more money to spend on players in free agency.
With the additional cash, the Vikings might be willing to slightly overpay for a free agent on their wishlist. Minnesota might also be more inclined to spend a little more to keep some of their own free agents around for at least one more season.
With the expected increase in the NFL salary cap this year, there's probably a better chance that a bunch of players from this offseason's free agency pool are going to get overpaid. Someone like quarterback Sam Darnold might now be able to actually land a new contract that will pay him at least $50 million per year.
There are still a few weeks until the Vikings and the rest of the league will be able to officially spend money in free agency. But when that time comes, many will be watching to see what Minnesota decides to do with all of its cap space.