The Minnesota Vikings kicked off their training camp with a bang, extending stud LT Christian Darrisaw:
Darrisaw has performed as one of the best LTs in the league over the past two seasons, and the Vikings locked him up as part of the long-term plan to protect rookie and hopeful QB of the future J.J. McCarthy. Adam Schefter reported the initial contract details, which describe a four-year extension worth “up to” $113 million, with $43.7 million fully guaranteed at signing and $77 million in total guarantees.
On Thursday, Over the Cap released* the full details of Darrisaw’s contract. Darrisaw’s deal has a base salary of $104 million, with $43.725 fully guaranteed, $77.5 million in total guarantees, and $9 million in incentives. That comes very close to what I projected (hyperlink) for Darrisaw a few weeks ago, at $105 million overall, with $43 million fully guaranteed and $77.5 million functionally guaranteed.
*This article has been updated to reflect the new reporting on Darrisaw’s contract.
Here are five numbers that explain the Darrisaw extension:
26
Based on the report from Schefter, Darrisaw’s raw average on the deal is $28.25 million. That ends up behind Penei Sewell for the largest contract in offensive line history. The Detroit Lions drafted Sewell before Darrisaw in 2021 and signed him to a $28 million per year contract in April.
77,516,929
Per the Over the Cap Breakdown, the Vikings have $43.725 million in full guarantees at signing but $77.5 million in overall guarantees. Like other recent market-setting deals, Darrisaw got injury-protected guarantees at signing that become fully guaranteed on a rolling basis, typically triggering on the year before the guarantees occur.
Darrisaw’s contract is another example of this. His $13.3 million base salary, $1.5 million per game roster bonus, and $250k workout bonus in 2026 become guaranteed on the 3rd day of the 2025 league year. In addition, half of his $16.75 million 2027 salary becomes fully guaranteed on the 3rd day of the 2026 league year, with the remainder becoming guaranteed in 2027. It will be difficult for the Vikings to avoid that guarantee in 2027, as Darrisaw would incur a $29.01 million dead cap hit if cut before his full 2027 salary becomes guaranteed. The cost would rise to $37.3 million after the guarantee kicks in.
Therefore, Darrisaw is functionally guaranteed to be with the Vikings through 2027. He also has a $2 million guarantee in 2028 that kicks in on the third day of the league year in 2027. That means his functional guarantees are his earnings through 2027 plus those $2 million, which comes to a whopping $77,516,929.
2030
The Vikings have an out in 2028. However, because Darrisaw signed this contract after his third season, the extension will be added to the fourth year of his rookie deal, his fifth-year option. That means he will be under contract with the Vikings for the next six seasons. His deal will expire after the 2029 season, and the first time he could potentially reach free agency is in 2030 when he would be 31 years old.
20.4
Despite the face value on average, if you include what Darrisaw was scheduled to make in 2024 and 2025 and spread the total value of $122.5 million across the six total years remaining on his deal, he’s getting paid about $20.4 million on average over the next six years. This slots behind Sewell, Laremy Tunsil, and Trent Williams when they signed their deals.
284,000,000
Because this is an extension, the Vikings will be able to keep Darrisaw’s cap hit low over the next two seasons. It’s most likely that the first year Darrisaw will carry a significant cap hit, which is over $10 million, is in 2026. Over the Cap currently estimates the 2026 cap at $284 million. That astronomical number means that Darrisaw’s $28.25 million average annual value would comprise less than 10% of the total cap.
conclusion
Minnesota’s brass made no major moves in their first two offseasons. A lot was made over the fact that, at one point, C.J. Ham was the only veteran GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah had signed who was under contract through 2025. In hindsight, it’s clear that Kwesi was working through the backlog of the cap problems created by Kirk Cousins and the Rick Spielman regime. He waited for quality players to be up for extensions before making long-term moves.
Darrisaw, Justin Jefferson, T.J. Hockenson, and Jonathan Greenard are all under contract through at least 2027 and can be considered the team’s long-term cornerstones. There are still holes to fill, but the Vikings will have cap space to compete in free agency in the upcoming seasons.
In conjunction with handing out big deals, Adofo-Mensah also ramped up his aggression in the draft, trading up multiple times in 2024. The Vikings will need to hit on their bet that J.J. McCarthy will provide more value than Kirk Cousins did at QB. If he does, Minnesota will have a strong long-term outlook. With a phenomenal supporting cast, including Darrisaw and well-regarded HC Kevin O’Connell, the Vikings have done everything they could to set McCarthy up for success.
