Sitting nearly $47 million over the projected salary cap before earlier-reported moves become official, the Minnesota Vikings have a lot of work to do to clear cap space. Those reported moves to part ways with running back Aaron Jones, defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, and defensive tackle Jonathan Allen will go a long way, but no more is necessary.
An easy way for NFL teams to clear big chunks of cap space is through the restructuring of multi-year contracts. That is lined up to be a natural part of the Vikings' plan to get cap-compliant, and it's starting as the new league year approaches.
According to NFL Media's Tom Pelissero on Friday, the Vikings will do "simple restructures" of the contracts of wide receiver Justin Jefferson and left tackle Christian Darrisaw.
In addition, Minnesota has reportedly done a simple contract restructuring with cornerback Byron Murphy, according to Alec Lewis of The Athletic.
According to Over The Cap's salary cap calculator, those three contract restructures would clear about $38.5 million in cap space for the Vikings, with a little over $18 million just with the Jefferson restructure.
So, as expected, some big steps to clear cap space will involve two franchise cornerstones who aren't going anywhere.
Minnesota Vikings are lined up to get under the salary cap in about as few moves as possible
Clearing the kind of salary cap space the Vikings need to before the league year starts is a big task. As a residual of last offseason's spending spree, doing so will come with some noticeable dead money pain.
Add the reported contract restructures for Murphy, Jefferson, and Darrisaw to the expected cuts of Jones, Hargrave, and Allen using Over The Cap's salary cap calculator tool, and Minnesota would instantly have a little more than $18.2 million ($6,467,461) in cap space.
Yes, cap space.
Of course, the Vikings will be clearing more cap space before free agency starts.
Center Ryan Kelly is expected to be cut, and there's a chance he will retire. Tight end T.J. Hockenson is in line for a significant contract restructuring of his own, as the idea of him being cut or traded has faded. Edge rusher Jonathan Greenard has also surfaced as a trade candidate, with ample reported interest around the league.
Being able to go from nearly $47 million over the salary cap to about $18.2 million under in just six moves, while losing just three players, has to be some kind of record. And with that, a painful offseason process for Minnesota can be, and is lined up to be, as painless and simple as it possibly can be.