With all the changes that have occurred with the Minnesota Vikings losing key veterans on the roster for salary cap reasons, more are coming, and this time, they have zero control over it.
On Monday, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that punter Ryan Wright has left the Vikings to reportedly sign a four-year contract with the New Orleans Saints worth $14 million. Wright has been the punter for Minnesota over the last four years after joining the team as an undrafted free agent in 2022.
Last year was Wright's best as the Vikings punter, as he had a career-high 44.5 net yards per punt and 49 yards per punt. Wright was part of a Minnesota special teams unit that was considered among the best in the NFL in 2025. PFF gave him an 81.3 punting grade for his performance last season, the sixth highest out of 32 punters in the NFL.
Minnesota Vikings lose punter Ryan Wright to New Orleans Saints
All of a sudden, the Vikings are now left with a massive hole at punter and need to figure out another option. No one within the organization's fan base could have imagined that the team would now be looking for a punter in free agency.
There are still some solid options for Minnesota to consider if they want to take the free agency route to find Wright's replacement. Guys like Tommy Townsend, Jamie Gillan, Bradley Pinion, and Braden Mann are all still available to be signed if they want a veteran.
A cheaper, riskier option would be to use the NFL Draft to find their punter and focus on other positions in free agency. The Vikings already don't have quite the cap space to make another bold move, so they need to get creative with who they bring in and stay cheap.
This could easily end up being an underrated miss for Minnesota that doesn't get talked about until the 2026 season, as losing Wright could significantly hurt this team in the field position game.