As part of a welcome overhaul of their interior offensive line during the 2025 offseason, the Minnesota Vikings signed guard Will Fries to a five-year, $87.7 million contract, despite having played just five games for the Indianapolis Colts the previous season.
Amid a litany of injuries, Fries was the only projected starting offensive lineman who played every game for the Vikings last season. His performance, though, was another matter, as Pro Football Focus gave him a very "mid" assessment.
Among 81 qualifying guards last year, Fries had the 42nd-best overall PFF grade (61.7), the 47th-best run-blocking grade (60.1), and the 36th-best pass-blocking grade (62.9). The eye test backed those grades, as Fries rarely stood out.
It certainly could've been worse, but a "fine" or "mid" performance isn't good enough for a top-10 paid guard in the league. Fries' PFF marks over five games with the Colts in 2024, before he suffered a fractured tibia, are looking like an outlier.
If he'd had enough snaps to qualify in 2024, Fries would have had the third-best overall PFF grade among guards (86.9. His blocking grade would've been fourth-best (84.9), and his pass-blocking grade (74.9) would've been 12th-best at the position.
The Minnesota Vikings may be counting the days before they can move on from Will Fries
So far this season, Fries has been more of the same. He is PFF's 36th-highest-graded guard (out of 74 qualifying guards), with a run-blocking grade that's No. 31 and a pass-blocking grade that's 50th. Again, it surely could be worse, but he's still not performing anywhere near the level of his contract.
A shift in the Vikings' run-game approach seems to be helping Fries, but his pass blocking is still lacking. He has allowed 10 pressures this season, according to PFF, including a team-high three against the New Orleans Saints in Week 5.
Surface -level contract details are often reported with PR spin for the player's agent, to the point that a deal like Fries' is rarely all it appears to be in the moment. He got $44 million guaranteed and $34 million fully guaranteed at signing, split between a $20 million signing bonus and fully guaranteed base salaries this year and last year, totaling $14 million.
$10 million of Fries' $16.89 million 2027 base salary becomes guaranteed on the third day of the 2027 league year. If he keeps up this level of mediocre play, the Vikings will likely want to avoid that payout unless they restructure.
According to Over The Cap, cutting Fries before June 1, 2027 would leave the Vikings $12 million in dead money with $9.5 million in cap savings. A post-June 1 cut would spread that $12 million in dead money over 2027, 2028, and 2029, while creating $17.5 million in cap space.
Fries' paycheck says he should be looking irreplaceable. Over 22 games as a Viking, he has delivered basically replacement-level (or a notch worse) overall. If the team makes an honest assessment at season's end, assuming things stay on the current track, a big-ticket free agent investment could become an admitted mistake two years in.
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