NFL Free Agency 2025: Minnesota Vikings Depth Chart + Offseason Moves

The National Football League loves to remind us that it is a business. A tough business. So tough that you can go 14-3 in one of the league’s toughest divisions and still lose your job. That’s the current story with Sam Darnold, who will likely end up quarterbacking a different team in 2025, if the most recent NFL rumors are true.

And, in all honesty, it’s not that crazy of a move. They believe in J.J. McCarthy. And you can create a LOT of leverage with your quarterback on a rookie deal. Once upon a time, the Patriots moved on from Drew Bledsoe for Tom Brady. And the $100 million contract for Bledsoe had a lot to do with that decision.

The move will leave the Minnesota Vikings with a good chunk of cap space to work with in making another playoff run. Let’s take a look at the current depth chart, contracts, cap space, and NFL free agents to predict what kind of moves the Vikings could make in terms of weapons. Maybe that will help us with our dynasty fantasy football leagues and mock drafts for the 2025 NFL Draft!

*The salary cap numbers referenced in this article come courtesy of our friends over at Spotrac.com*

Minnesota Vikings Depth Chart 2025 (Fantasy Football Relevant)

• White = unrestricted free agent
• Green = role is safe
• Yellow = role in flux
• Orange = likely a depth piece
• Red = roster spot not guaranteed

Minnesota Vikings Free Agency 2025

• CURRENT PROJECTED 2025 SALARIES: ~$221M
• CURRENT ESTIMATED 2025 CAP SPACE: ~$59M

Vikings Quarterback Depth Chart

Sam Darnold: The rumors have been FLYING on Sam Darnold. There have been talks of them franchise tagging him. There have been talks of them tagging and trading him. There have been talks of him going to a number of teams in free agency, like the Raiders or the Rams. And some have speculated that the market for him will not be robust and that he’ll return to Minnesota on a cheap deal. 

When you take a look at the free agent quarterback market, the NFL draft options, and the QB needy teams, Darnold returning to the Vikings on a team-friendly deal sounds less and less likely. The Vikings view J.J. McCarthy as their long-term franchise QB. And a team out there will jump at a chance to bring in a 27-year-old former top 3 pick that just won 14 games.

Darnold will be a starting quarterback in 2025 which should see him as an option in your superflex or two QB leagues in fantasy football. 

J.J. McCarthy: The Vikings have seen enough to believe in McCarthy as the future. Unfortunately, a torn meniscus robbed him of his entire rookie season. But they expect him to be ready to go and potentially start for the Vikings this year.

There is a lot of hope that the Vikings will be as good if not better with McCarthy starting. But we have to temper expectations and realize that this is a long term move being made. There is a real possibility that Sam Darnold, who has played seven years of professional football, is currently a better NFL quarterback than J.J. McCarthy. 

The pivot to him now is based on his long-term ceiling and the difference in contract. For your fantasy football leagues, the prospect of playing with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson is naturally tantalizing. Just remember this will be McCarthy’s first NFL season and he’ll be coming off a serious injury. 

Daniel Jones: After being released by the Giants, Jones signed to the Vikings. Which is a smart move if you ask me. Sam Darnold himself signed with the San Francisco 49ers to see what a good organization looks like and that led him to the Vikings. Jones now knows what a winning franchise looks like as he makes his next move.

His next move might actually be to sign with the Vikings. There’s a possibility that McCarthy still needs time to develop and he could get some meaningful playing time. Or he could serve as the backup while he mentors McCarthy and continues to develop himself. At the very least, he should see what the market is like out there to compete to start. 

Nick Mullens: Mullens is an unrestricted free agent and I don’t expect him to be back in 2025. With McCarthy at the helm, they should do their best to bring in a more trusted veteran presence. And there are a lot of options.

• Reserves/Futures: Brett Rypien

VIKINGS QB FREE AGENCY TAKE: Obviously there are a lot of moving parts here. But, for the sake of discussion, let’s assume that Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones, and Nick Mullen are all going to hit free agency. The Vikings should strongly consider bringing in a veteran presence that can both play if called upon and mentor their young starter. Here are some of the options for that.

POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Daniel Jones, Joe Flacco, Jacoby Brissett, Marcus Mariota

Vikings Running Back Depth Chart

Aaron Jones: There have been some rumblings around a reunion between free agent Aaron Jones and the Vikings. Many of those surround some quotes made by Kevin O'Connell where he said he’d love to have Jones back but heavily implied it would be part of a tandem with another young player. And those implications often point to Jones taking less money to return.

And this is the question older backs often face. Do you sign on for less money in a familiar part-time capacity? That’s what Austin Ekeler did last year reuniting with Anthony Lynn in Washington.

Or do you chase the money and a bigger role, like Ezekiel Elliott or Joe Mixon have opted for?Jones quietly just had 1,546 yards from scrimmage, the second most of his career, so he might feel he’s capable of more. Either way, this is a guy I’m holding in dynasty because I believe his value, even as an RB3/flex, outweighs the return you might get.

Cam Akers: For the second year in a row the Vikings made a trade for a veteran back. Cam Akers came over from the Texans to operate as their second fiddle behind Aaron Jones. 

If the Vikings don’t want a guy like Aaron Jones operating as their primary back, it’s unlikely they would view Akers that way if he were to return. It seems clear they want to get younger at the position and possibly take the load off McCarthy. So, Akers could find himself on another squad in 2025. 

Ty Chandler: There was a little steam around Chandler in fantasy football circles. But the Cam Akers trade put an end to that fairly quickly as, following the trade, he never cracked a 20% snap share on offense. He’s under contract on a cheap deal and he contributes on special teams so I’m guessing he hangs around as depth - he’s the only back they currently have under contract.

C.J. Ham: I was a bit surprised to see the Vikings hold onto Ham as Kevin O'Connell’s Rams never really used a fullback. But Ham also plays on four different special teams units on top of his fullback duties.

Ham is a fan favorite and he was also the Vikings nomination for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award for community service. But there have been some questions about his return this year. He reportedly spent extra time on the field after the last game. 

And he also had an offseason procedure done on his ankle. Stuff like that can hint at a possible retirement. Or maybe he knows that they plan to release or trade him for the $2.65M cap savings. Klint Kubiak just joined the Seahawks, and he might be in the market for a fullback, if Ham wants to keep playing elsewhere. 

• Reserves/Futures: Zavier Scott

VIKINGS RB FREE AGENCY TAKE: This team obviously has to do something here as they only have Ty Chandler under contract. When Kevin O'Connell mentioned possibly retaining Aaron Jones and pairing him with a young complimentary free agent, there’s not a lot of names that fit that bill. That has me feeling like drafting a running back is on the table here.

If they don’t go with Aaron Jones as the pass-catching back, they would likely opt for someone cheaper with the same services then pair him with a complementary back. A guy like Nick Chubb, who is 29 years old, doesn’t fit that “young” label. Najee Harris and J.K. Dobbins are 26 which isn’t necessarily young for running backs, but they would make the most sense.

POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Najee Harris, J.K. Dobbins, Javonte Williams, Rico Dowdle, Elijah Mitchell, AJ Dillon

Vikings Wide Receiver Depth Chart

Justin Jefferson: Justin Jefferson is one of the best young wide receivers in the league. And they’ve paid him handsomely to remain in Minnesota for the prime of his career. There’s not really much else to say - he’s one of the most valuable assets both in real life and in fantasy football.   

Jordan Addison: The Vikings also hit on Jordan Addison in the draft, though it hasn’t been the smoothest start. He first had an incident where he was driving 140 MPH then another more serious one where he was found asleep behind the wheel of his car and was arrested under suspicion of DUI. He entered pleas of “not guilty” for the two charges and awaits his next trial date.

For me, Addison was already in a bit of a tricky spot. They not only have Justin Jefferson as a target hog but also tight end T.J. Hockenson. Now they are switching QBs and Addison could be suspended to start the season. That’s a lot of uncertainty for me and the price for Addison is currently fairly high based on Alex Korff's trade value chart that captures industry sentiment. 

If you are a conservative fantasy gamer playing to win now, it might make sense to try to move Addison for a more reliable option. Even when things are going well for Addison, he does have a bit of a boom/bust nature with as many duds as he has monster games.

Jalen Nailor: Nailor has had a couple of chances to start for this team and play a big snap share, like Week 10 in 2023 and Weeks 2 and 3 last year. And he hasn’t really offered much. The truth is that with Jefferson, Addison, and Hockenson, they don’t need their WR2 to do much. If they expect Addison will miss time with a suspension, however, they might want to upgrade. 

Nailor doesn’t contribute much on special teams and can be released with only $45K in dead cap and $1.1M in savings. He had some pretty tough drops and he’s not a huge plus in the run blocking game so there’s an outside chance they move on from Nailor completely.  

Brandon Powell: Powell is an unrestricted free agent. He only had 7 catches in 17 games this year but he did return virtually every punt for the Vikings. If he is back, it will be in that capacity. 

Trent Sherfield: The journeyman slot WR was brought in to compete for that WR3 role but his playing time tapered off considerably after the first few weeks. If they bring him back as an unrestricted free agent, it will be on a veteran minimum deal to primarily chase down guys on kick and punt. 

• Reserves/Futures: Dontayvion Jackson, Thayer Thomas, Jeshaun Jones

VIKINGS WR FREE AGENCY TAKE: The Vikings have found themselves in the same spot many teams are in. They have three great pass-catchers in their two wide receivers and their top tight end. A team like the Texans last year went out and got Stefon Diggs while a team like the Bengals was just happy to have Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins available

If Jordan Addison wasn’t facing a potential suspension, this might not even be a question. But now they might need to add some sort of safety blanket. If I were the Vikings, I would potentially take a similar approach to the Eagles. 

They have A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert so they took a shot on a reclamation project in Jahan Dotson as their WR3. Maybe a player like Jalin Hyatt could be available for trade, but here are some young(ish) free agents to consider. 

POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Hollywood Brown, Tutu Atwell, Dyami Brown, Bo Melton, Elijah Moore, Joshua Palmer

Vikings Tight End Depth Chart

T.J. Hockenson: Even with modern medicine, there’s always a period where you hold your breath after a major injury. Not everyone recovers the same. Hockenson’s timeline was slow but, when he did get back out there, he had 8 catches on 9 targets for 72 yards in his second game. 

And that was while they were easing him in. In his second year back from injury, he should be back to 100%. He’s one of the “safer” tight end options in your dynasty leagues at a position that can give us headaches.

Josh Oliver: Some have listed Josh Oliver as a cut candidate. And I guess they could save over $5 million releasing him (which could translate to $8M in 2025 if they designate him a post June-1 release). We’ll have him listed in red above because of the speculation floating around but I think he stays for two reasons.

Folks probably want him gone because of the lack of production in the pass game but he’s quietly one of the better blockers in the league. Of the tight ends that played at least 25 run blocking snaps, Josh Olver graded out as the top run blocker per pro football focus, just ahead of George Kittle. 

The second reason you hang onto him is that the use of two TE sets not only helps the run game, but it takes pressure off having a standout WR3. Some teams like the Dolphins and 49ers basically just use tight ends and fullbacks instead of a WR3. With Jordan Addison facing suspension, it makes your life a lot easier to run 12 personnel. So, I think he stays with the Vikings and possibly even gets extended.

Johnny Mundt: Mundt is an unrestricted free agent, but he could very well be back in the room. Kevin O'Connell brought him over from his days with the Rams and he can operate on a couple different special teams units. 

• Reserves/Futures: N/A

VIKINGS TE FREE AGENCY TAKE: They’ll need some depth here after T.J. Hockenson and Josh Oliver. If we assume Mundt is gone, it might make sense to have a better pass-catching option to pair with Oliver in the event something happens to Hock. Here are the pure pass-catching tight ends that are hitting free agency if they want to round out the room that way. Paying some of these guys might be overkill for a TE3 but I’ll list them all just in case.

POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Juwan Johnson, Gerald Everett, Mike Gesicki, Hayden Hurst, Kylen Granson, Stone Smartt, Tanner Hudson, Lucas Krull