Four Pending Free Agents the Vikings Need to Bring Back
The offseason has already kicked off for the Minnesota Vikings. Unfortunately their year ended in heartbreak after a Wild Card Round loss as favorites against the Los Angeles Rams. The first order of business was extending head coach Kevin O’Connell.
Ownership must commit to Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and extend his contract next. From there the front office will work on roster construction for 2025. Minnesota has a boatload of free agents to consider the future of, and some should be a priority to retain over others.
Four 2025 Minnesota Vikings free agents to retain
There are plenty of holes for the Minnesota Vikings to fill. They will do some of that work on the open market, and they’ll utilize the draft picks they do have to bring in talent as well. There are a couple of guys they have gotten to know though, that they shouldn’t let leave the organization.
Byron Murphy Jr., cornerback
This should be the first person Minnesota reaches out to with when looking at a signing a new contract. Byron Murphy Jr. signed a two-year deal worth $17.5 million to join the Vikings in 2023.
He started 14 games last year before being healthy for all 17 this season. After three interceptions during his Minnesota debut campaign, he pricked off six this season. His 81 tackles were a new career-high and he made the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career.
The Vikings depth chart is ridiculously thin at cornerback going into the offseason. Stephon Gilmore and Shaq Griffin are both free agents as well. There isn’t a single returning starter, and Murphy Jr. is going to be in line for a pay increase.
Mekhi Blackmon returns next year, but coming off a season-ending injury it remains to be seen what his effectiveness will look like. The tragic death of Khyree Jackson continues to impact the room, and despite being a training camp darling, Dwight McGlothern had minimal impact this year.
Camryn Bynum, safety
This offseason is already going to be one of massive turnover for the Vikings at the safety position. It should be all but guaranteed that Harrison Smith rides off into the sunset. If Bynum is going to follow suit, the Brian Flores will be turning over the position entirely.
Bynum has been with the Vikings since he was drafted in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. His rookie deal was just shy of $4.2 million, and it wasn’t until this last year that he carried his first annual salary of at least $1 million.
In his rookie year Bynum started just three of the 14 games he played. He has started 17 games in each of the last three seasons, and 2024 was his best as a pro. Bynum picked off three passes this season and recovered a paif of fumbles. His 97 tackles fell short of the 137 last season, but he was a key cog of Flores’ defense.
Minnesota still has Josh Mettellus on the back end of the defense, but he is best utilized as a hybrid weapon. Bynum is going to command a significant pay increase, and he understands that may not come with the Vikings.
He certainly faded down the stretch and became a bit too known for practicing his choreography. Still, if the secondary is to have a level of continuity, then keeping Bynum around in the vein of Smith’s tenure makes a good deal of sense.
Daniel Jones, quarterback
No, the quarterback Minnesota should keep is not Sam Darnold. They have their face-of-the-franchise in J.J. McCarthy. Darnold’s development earned him a payday, and short of a franchise tag and trade, he should expect to find that elsewhere.
That doesn’t mean McCarthy will be given the keys during Week 1. He has had ample time to recover, but still needs to acclimate at the highest level. Daniel Jones represents an ideal backup that could play bridge starter in the meantime, if McCarthy is not ready.
He represents a potential higher ceiling than Darnold came to Minnesota with, and got a first hand look at how the Vikings transformed the former Jets and Panthers quarterback’s career. Of course Jones flamed out in New York, but he’s just two years removed from a playoff victory and he posted a 9-6-1 record in 2022.
Thanks to Ed Donatell, Jones already got the bag from the Giants. Minnesota shouldn’t need to pay him much money in order to stick around. The situation may wind up being similar to Sam Darnold with the San Francisco 49ers last year, and that deal cost under $6 million.
Jones’ name shouldn’t cause fear from Vikings fans for either playing time or cap hits. He immediately gives Kevin O’Connell a better backup than Nick Mullens, and McCarthy would have another veteran to bounce ideas off of.
Cam Akers, running back
Similarly to the cornerback position, there’s an exodus at running back in Minnesota. Aaron Jones was signed to a one-year deal, and so to was Cam Akers. That leaves just Ty Chandler as 53-man roster options, and we have already seen that O’Connell doesn’t feel comfortable with him as the starter.
Jones had a career-best 1,138 rushing yards with Minnesota this season. He also remained incredibly healthy. That said, he’ll be 31 next season and the Vikings might not want to risk rolling the dice again.
Akers was a guy that Minnesota wanted again this last offseason. He went to Houston in hopes of an expanded opportunity, but the Vikings came calling and brought him back in a trade. Akers looked spry in a change-of-pace role.
Across 12 games he tallied 297 yards with a 4.6 yards per carry average. That’s even better than he was in 2023, and he could help a rookie to acclimate into the offense.
Although Akers has torn his achilles twice, he is still young and will be just 26 years old next season. Maybe he commands more than a one-year deal, but he definitely could be talked into the reality that the grass isn’t always greener.
On a modest deal, the Vikings could get a starting caliber back to pair with a drafted rookie. It would be the first time he signs with them from the start as well.