While there might be a path to keeping him via a significant contract restructuring/pay cut, T.J. Hockenson's days as a Minnesota Viking seem to be numbered. Carrying the highest current 2026 cap hit for a tight end is simply untenable based on his production over the last couple of seasons. A trade may be possible, but it's more likely he will be cut.
Or maybe not. According to Thor Nystrom of SKOR North, reporting from the NFL Combine, the Vikings will retain Hockenson for next season. That will surely come with a noticeable pay cut, as noted, but those details will come if that is the plan.
So the Vikings will not be fully replacing their No. 1 tight end based on Nystrom's report. Other internal options could still be elevated to a bigger role, but the optimistic projection involved there won't be required anymore. An outside addition is still possible, but diving into the big-name options on that front was never likely, and it won't be happening now.
Due to multiple departures, the Vikings have a lot of new coaches under Kevin O'Connell. One addition was Frank Smith, who was hired as assistant head coach after spending the last four seasons as the Miami Dolphins' offensive coordinator.
The Minnesota Vikings now have an easy (and uninspiring) option to pair with T.J. Hockenson
Speaking at the NFL Combine, via Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post, Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan dropped a fairly random note the midst of more interesting things about the team.
"Darren Waller is interested in playing this year. Probably doesn't make a ton of sense of Miami at the moment, Sullivan says."
After retiring from the New York Giants and sitting out the 2024 season, Waller came back to play for the Dolphins last season. Over nine games, with a stint on IR due to a pectoral injury, he had 24 catches for 283 yards and six touchdowns.
Waller's landing with the Dolphins last year was driven by a tie he had with the coaching staff. Smith was the Raiders' tight ends coach from 2018 to 2020, when Waller emerged as one of the best tight ends in the league.
In both 2019 and 2020, Waller topped 1,100 yards with at least 90 catches.
In response to Schad's story, and with the obvious tie to Smith, Josh Norris of Underdog Fantasy took the low-hanging fruit to tie Waller to the Vikings.
Frank Smith - who Waller is close with - was hired by the Vikings as their assistant head coach https://t.co/mCA1yHgfxX
— Josh Norris (@JoshNorris) February 24, 2026
If he wants to continue playing, Waller lands as an interesting name for any team that's in the market for a tight end. He also won't be expensive. But there should be lingering questions about his desire to play, and the cache his name may still carry does not equal his game anymore (and it hasn't for a while).
Coaching ties can inform a team's decisions. Smith surely knows the difference between the two versions of Waller he has seen closely, and with that in mind, the Vikings should not be overly intrigued by the older, shell version the Dolphins got last year.