Compared to plenty of other teams throughout the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings don't have an overabundance of undesirable contracts at the moment.
Sure, T.J. Hockenson being one of the highest-paid tight ends in the league at $16.5 million per year might be a bit of a reach. And cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. getting $18 million per season might be an even bigger one.
In the humble opinion of this writer, however, neither of those is as bad (or as risky) as the two-year, $30 million deal Minnesota general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah doled out to defensive tackle Javon Hargrave this offseason.
It's not that adding a two-time Pro Bowler with nine years of experience is a bad thing from an overall standpoint, as having a veteran presence in the trenches clearly has benefits.
But paying $15 million per season for a 32-year-old coming off a season-ending injury? That's a little tough to get behind.
The Minnesota Vikings may have been better off signing Javon Hargrave to a one-year "prove it" deal
Now, the good news regarding the injury that cost Hargrave all but three games last year with the San Francisco 49ers was that it was a torn triceps as opposed to something much more debilitating like a torn ACL or something to that effect.
And historically, the South Carolina State alum has a solid history of staying healthy, never missing more than one game in a season until last year.
Nevertheless, one has to wonder if the Vikings could've gotten away with signing Hargrave to a one-year "prove it" kind of a deal, perhaps one for a few million dollars less than the $15 million AAV he's getting now.
Now, maybe that wasn't an option, as one would assume Minnesota had some competition for his services. After all, in the last full season he played, which would've been his first with San Francisco in 2023, Hargrave earned the second Pro Bowl selection of his career after recording 44 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, 14 QB hits, and 7.0 sacks in 16 regular-season games.
That said, however, in his final campaign with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022, the North Carolina native racked up 60 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 16 QB hits, and a career-high 11.0 sacks. So, perhaps decline is already setting in.
To be fair, things could be worse, as the Niners were paying Hargrave an average of $21 million per year. And the Vikings did give themselves somewhat of an out by paying $12.945 million of his $19 million in guaranteed money as a signing bonus.
So, if injuries again become an issue or he's no longer needed if Jalen Redmond continues to improve, they can just release him after the upcoming season, although they would take a dead-cap hit of more than $10 million.
Vikings fans will obviously just have to wait and see how this all plays out. And maybe Hargrave ends up being worth it with some sort of career campaign. But for now, this seems like a clear-cut case of overpaying.