In the span of seven days last week, the Minnesota Vikings spent more money on players than any team in the NFL. They retained, acquired via trade or signed as free agents 14 players whose contracts combined for more than $300 million and nearly $160 million in full guarantees, according to Roster Management.
Those efforts have largely been overshadowed by their dalliance with free agent quarterback Aaron Rodgers, whose availability piqued the interest of organizational decision-makers enough to spend more than a week considering it. In the meantime, the organization has been in a holding pattern in a way that has publicly minimized the work they did elsewhere.
So let's take a moment to answer four questions to explain those moves and address how they will impact the team in 2025 -- regardless of who plays quarterback.
Why did the Vikings spend so much on the running game?
If you combine the signings of center Ryan Kelly, guard Will Fries, starting tailback Aaron Jones and new backup running back Jordan Mason, you get to nearly half of the Vikings' total expenditures last week. All four will also help maintain and enhance the passing game, but the intent here was unmistakable.
In three seasons under coach Kevin O'Connell, the Vikings have fielded one of the least productive -- and least utilized -- running games in the NFL. Since the start of the 2022 season, they rank No. 28 in the NFL in percentage of designed runs (35.3%) and No. 27 in rushing yards per game (99.4).
That three-year average includes an incremental uptick in both categories during the 2024 season, as Jones' arrival gave them a bigger threat in the backfield. But the running game was still anemic in some of the most important points of the season, especially in goal-to-go situations.
Since the start of 2022, the Vikings have the second-lowest average yards per carry on goal-to-go (0.9 yards) plays in the league. It's a weakness than can be attributed to both blocking and running. The Vikings rank No. 31 in yards before contact on those plays (0.14) and No. 28 in yards after contact (0.77).
Mason in particular should impact those numbers, especially if Kelly and Fries can get a better push in their new roles. Since entering the league in 2022, Mason has averaged 2.49 yards per rush after contact (on all carries), the best mark of anyone with at least 150 attempts over that period.
The Vikings' weak goal-to-go rushing offense has forced them to drop back 133 times in those situations over the past three seasons, third most in the league. There have been four games over that period in which a team has thrown nine goal-to-go passes. The Vikings have two of them. They now have an opportunity to flip the entire script.
Why did they spend so much to re-sign CB Byron Murphy Jr.?
Murphy made his first Pro Bowl last season after intercepting six passes, but he was also the NFL's most targeted defender, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. He was the nearest defender on 114 passes and 75 receptions, both the highest totals in the league. To be fair, he was also on the field for 663 coverage snaps, No. 4 in the NFL.
There are a few points to be made here. First, initial reports of a three-year $66 million contract -- which would have made Murphy one of the NFL's five-highest paid cornerbacks -- did not represent the actual value of the deal. It's better viewed as a three-year, $54 million contract. That $18 million average put him in the top 15 in the league, and it looks even better this week after the Houston Texans extended cornerback Derek Stinglety Jr.'s contract at an average of $30 million per season.
The Vikings had put themselves in a tough spot, as their top four cornerbacks from 2024 were heading into free agency. The only way around giving Murphy a market-level deal was to have reliable replacements on hand.
The Vikings did not. They have already parted ways with two cornerbacks they drafted in 2022, Andrew Booth Jr. and Akayleb Evans. A third-round pick in 2023, Mekhi Blackmon, is recovering from a torn ACL. Khyree Jackson, a fourth-round pick in 2024, was killed in a car accident last summer.
Why did the Vikings sign two old(er) defensive tackles?
Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave have been accomplished interior disruptors in their careers, with four Pro Bowls and 87.5 career sacks between them. But Allen (30) and Hargrave (32) are not only older than most players at that position, they are each coming off significant injuries that cost them portions of their 2024 season. Allen missed nine games because of a torn left pectoral muscle and Hargrave missed 14 because of a torn right triceps.
Internally, however, the Vikings noted that both players had been injury-free for most of their careers. Allen played in at least 15 games every season between 2018 and 2023, while Hargrave had never missed more than two games in any of his eight seasons before 2024.
And frankly, for as good as their pass rush has been in the past two seasons under defensive coordinator Brian Flores -- they rank No. 9 in the NFL over that period with nine sacks -- their interior disruption was a major vulnerability.
Their interior defensive linemen combined for 47 pressures in 2024, tied for the fifth fewest in the league. They got 7.5 sacks from players lined up at defensive tackle, No. 31 in the NFL, and 4.5 of those were by linebackers Blake Cashman and Andrew Van Ginkel when they were aligned over center.
Allen's pass rush win rate has dropped in each of the past two seasons, and neither he nor Hargrave should be expected to be in their prime. But if used wisely in the right situations, the Vikings hope they will add to the myriad of threats that opposing offenses must account for.
Why did they pay to keep Theo Jackson?
Jackson is a safety who played 18 snaps in 2022, 126 in 2023 and 78 in 2024. As he approached his final season before he would be eligible for free agency, the Vikings gave Jackson what amounted to a three-year contract worth a little over $9 million.
The explanation is pretty simple. Jackson, who had impressive training camps in 2023 and 2024, is going to be a starter in 2025. The Vikings knew that Camryn Bynum was going to get offers beyond what they wanted to pay him at the position, knowing that fellow veteran Harrison Smith was likely to return for at least one more season.
Committing to Jackson now is almost certainly less expensive than if he had played out the 2025 season as a starter and then tested his market value. As it is, the Vikings have him locked up through the 2027 season, after which he will be 29.