The Minnesota Vikings have been very active in free agency over the course of the first week, including fortifying the offensive line. The additions of center Ryan Kelly and right guard Will Fries strengthened the offensive line and have been a major factor in the excitement about the 2025 season.

Adding both of those players meant the end was near with both center Garrett Bradbury and right guard Ed Ingram. The Vikings were able to trade Ingram to the Houston Texans for a sixth-round pick and were looking to trade Bradbury.

Vikings release Garrett Bradbury

On Monday afternoon, the Vikings officially moved on from Bradbury, as was expected. However, the report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero has the Vikings releasing him with a post-June 1st designation.

It’s an interesting one for the Vikings. Bradbury was set to count $2.44 million against the salary cap upon release. Using a post-June 1st designation drops that down to $814k for the 2025 season.

Why would the Vikings do that? Simply put: it provides them maximum flexibility for the 2025 season. Moving 2/3 of that money back is a smart move for the Vikings, as a dollar tomorrow is cheaper than a dollar today. Plus, if the Vikings don’t use the salary cap space this year, it pushes into 2026 and it balances out in the same way.

There is another aspect here. Why did Ingram get traded but Bradbury couldn’t? Considering Ingram got benched and Bradbury was solid, it feels a little odd. However, when you look at the different elements surrounding both players, it makes a little bit of sense.

Ingram just has things that are currently unknown about his future whereas Bradbury is who he is at the age of 30. It’s frustrating for sure that he didn’t bring back any draft capital, but the trade market in the NFL doesn’t often make a lot of sense.

The Vikings officially need one more interior offensive lineman to get the room into a great spot.