It can’t get any worse than this.
That thought has echoed through the minds of Minnesota Vikings fans for at least a week. The thought is binary in nature. Maybe you view it as a good thing, and that there’s nowhere to go but up. Or possibly it’s the opposite, with the team so far gone that it’s beyond repair. Either way you see it, the Vikings will have to make some crucial decisions in the offseason, but some may already be made for them.
For years, Vikings fans lamented Kirk Cousins’ enormous cap hit and the limited flexibility it left to improve the roster. When they finally got a quarterback on a rookie deal, Minnesota proceeded to pump $300 million into free-agent acquisitions to make a run at a Super Bowl. Now at 4-8, the plan is in shambles, and there’s a contingent of fans calling for a complete teardown. But as the losses stack up, the road to a rebuild features several major roadblocks.
A successful rebuild usually has one (or more) of the following: a lot of high draft picks, a lot of cap space, or a lot of young talent. While the Vikings aren’t in dire straits, they aren’t exactly overflowing with any of those things, and it’s hard to see a path forward where any of them dramatically improve.
Draft Picks
The good news is that the Vikings still own their first-, second-, and third-round picks next year and beyond. So while the cupboard isn’t bare, other rebuilding contenders like the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, and eventually the Tennessee Titans will have multiple first-round picks in the 2026 draft.
Adding a first would be nearly impossible without some creative trade packages. There’s likely only one player on Minnesota’s roster who would fetch a first-round pick or more. Still, there’s simply no way the Vikings would deal Justin Jefferson, as much as the ESPN talking heads suggest it.
There are also questions surrounding the man making the selections. While general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah remains firmly planted on the hot seat among the fanbase, it would be a bit surprising for the Vikings to move on from him in 2026. His draft history hasn’t exactly provided confidence for future selections. Still, Dallas Turner and Donovan Jackson, two of the most recent first-round picks, have shown some serious potential this year. Would the Vikings really take another stab at a first-round quarterback next April?
Cap Space
Minnesota handed out a lot of very large contracts this past offseason, and very few of them are providing a good return on investment. Players like Javon Hargrave, Jonathan Allen, T.J. Hockenson, and Byron Murphy Jr. all have cap hits over $20 million next season, and none have easy paths to move on. They didn’t acquire Will Fries off the dollar menu, and he also comes with huge cap and dead cap hits. Even Brian O’Neill, who has had a mediocre season and will be 31 at the start of next year, has the second-largest cap hit on the team at $23 million.
The Vikings aren’t strangers to dead cap hits, but moving on from any of those players would significantly add to those numbers. They could cut Hargave, Allen, or Hockenson, but all of that comes with a steep penalty. While 2024 saw free-agent home runs in Sam Darnold, Jonathan Greenard, and Andrew Van Ginkel, this year’s class has left a lot to be desired, and left even more on Minnesota’s books for next year.
Young Talent
Great! The Vikings have decided to lean into a rebuild and use the remainder of 2025 to develop young talent. There’s just one problem: Who would they call up from the bench?
Minnesota has 17 players on the roster under 25 years old. Of those 17, five are already starting (with varying success), and the remaining 12 are largely buried on the depth chart. Has wide receiver Tai Felton shown enough to deserve a closer look? Has Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins or Walter Rouse?
The point is that, for the most part, these aren’t guys nipping at the heels of an aging vet, just waiting for their time to shine. These are mostly players who still have a long way to go before they can jump into a starting or even secondary role.
So, as much as some fans would love the idea of a complete teardown, the Vikings just aren’t set up to go all-in on a rebuild in 2026. In all likelihood, Minnesota runs it back with a hopefully improved J.J. McCarthy or a mid-level veteran, and the roster looks mostly similar to its current iteration until 2027, when it offers the flexibility to build it up or tear it down. Sometimes there just isn’t any money in the banana stand.
