With the official start of the 2026 League Year right around the corner, several teams have already begun making cuts to create salary cap space. The Miami Dolphins, for instance, were extremely busy on Monday, releasing wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, edge rusher Bradley Chubb, and offensive guard James Daniels.
One can only assume the Minnesota Vikings will soon follow suit, as the Purple & Gold are currently projected to be more than $40 million over the 2026 cap figure, and that doesn't even factor in the money they'll need for their upcoming draft picks, which tacks on another $5 million or so.
So, Executive Vice President of Football Operations Rob Brzezinski, who's running the show in the front office until Minnesota finds a permanent replacement for recently-fired GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, certainly has his work cut out for him.
The Vikes undoubtedly have several cut candidates to consider, but The Athletic has put one name above all others, that being veteran defensive tackle Javon Hargrave.
Javon Hargrave listed as biggest potential salary cap casualty for the Minnesota Vikings
The Athletic recently released a list of one potential cap casualty for all 32 NFL teams, and Vikings insider Alec Lewis opted for Hargrave, who was one of the many free agents Minnesota brought to town during the 2025 offseason.
"The Vikings signed the 33-year-old last offseason with the idea that he could recover some of his game-changing pass-rush potential.
There were flashes. However, the consistency lacked, and it didn’t feel like he was a phenomenal fit for the scheme of defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
Minnesota, which is projected to be around $40 million over the cap, can save nearly $10 million by cutting Hargrave. This is an easier move than others, considering the Vikings have trusted depth with youngsters Jalen Redmond and Levi Drake Rodriguez.
Other options here are center Ryan Kelly and running back Aaron Jones. Hargrave, though, is an obvious candidate."
Hargrave certainly didn't perform poorly in 2025, as his 68.0 overall PFF grade ranked 35th among 134 qualifying interior defenders. But as Lewis pointed out, the 10-year veteran lacked consistency, often failing to string together strong performances in back-to-back weeks.
With the two-time Pro Bowler's 2025 cap hit being $8,458,382, that inconsistency can fly a bit. But with the Vikings backloading his contract, Hargrave's cap hit for the 2026 campaign is $21,453,382, and for that kind of cash, inconsistency simply can't be tolerated.
Now, if the Vikings were to cut the 33-year-old, they would take a significant dead cap hit of $10,497,500, but they would open up $10,955,882 in cap space, according to Over The Cap.
As our own Brad Berreman recently pointed out, Minnesota would be better off finding a trade partner for Hargrave.
In this scenario, the Vikes would still take on a dead cap hit of $6,497,500, but they'd create $14,955,882 in cap space and would also receive some additional draft capital. So, that's certainly an option worth exploring if they can find a team to take the bait.