The secondary for the Minnesota Vikings needs to be addressed in a major way this offseason. They are set to have four of their top six players to hit free agency and a fifth in Harrison Smith who could end up retiring.
- CB Byron Murphy Jr.
- CB Stephon Gilmore
- CB Shaquill Griffin
- S Camryn Bynum
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has done a really good job trying to add players to the secondary, and he’s now faced with the potential of having to revamp the entire room.
Vikings extend Byron Murphy Jr.’s void date
Monday afternoon had four contracts set to void:
- CB Stephon Gilmore
- QB Sam Darnold
- RB Aaron Jones
- CB Byron Murphy Jr.
Over the weekend, the Vikings moved Jones’ void date and news came out on Tuesday that they moved back the void date of Murphy. However, it came at a major cost, as they can no longer place the franchise tag on Murphy.
That’s quite the trade off for the Vikings. Earlier on Tuesday, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert mentioned the possibility of Murphy getting the franchise tag on Monday.
There is one player who could be given the franchise tag by the Vikings: cornerback Byron Murphy Jr.Placing the franchise tag on Murphy would be an interesting move for the Vikings. If they were to do that, it would likely cost them $20,357,000 per Over The Cap’s franchise tag projections. It might feel like a lot for Murphy who is set to enter his age 27 season, but it’s not crazy. Murphy could get that on the open market, especially with the top of the market now being $24 million per season.
Interestingly enough, moving Murphy’s void date shows that the Vikings are very interested in bringing him back, but they had to be okay not using the franchise tag on him, which would have been expensive.
It’s also not the first or second time the Vikings have done this with Adofo-Mensah as the general manager.
- 2023: Dalvin Tomlinson
- 2024: Marcus Davenport
- 2025: Aaron Jones and Byron Murphy Jr.
Things are getting more interesting for the Vikings in free agency.
