2025 Vikings offseason news and rumor tracker: Free agency, NFL draft

Albert Breer Discusses Tee Higgins’ Future

2025 Vikings offseason news and rumor tracker: Free agency, NFL draft

This story will be updated throughout the offseason as all the news and rumors fly in.

Dec 8, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah looks on before the game against the Atlanta Falcons at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Dec 8, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah looks on before the game against the Atlanta Falcons at U.S. Bank Stadium. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

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Minnesota Vikings

A critical offseason is underway for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Kevin O’Connell, and the Minnesota Vikings. Fresh off a 14-win season that ended lifelessly in the wild card round, this regime once again has a big decision to make at quarterback and a number of roster holes to address.

This post will be updated over the course of the next few months as news and rumors around free agency, trades, and the NFL draft come flying in. The idea is that readers can bookmark it and use it as a resource to stay on top of all the latest news, with links to our real-time coverage of everything that’s happening in Vikings land.

Vikings internal free agents

* QB Sam Darnold

* RB Aaron Jones

* CB Byron Murphy Jr.

* S Camryn Bynum

* LT Cam Robinson

* CB Stephon Gilmore

* CB Shaq Griffin

* OLB Pat Jones

* DT Jerry Tillery

* DT Jihad Ward

* G Dalton Risner

* QB Daniel Jones

* QB Nick Mullens

* DT Jonathan Bullard

* TE Johnny Mundt

* WR Brandon Powell

* WR Trent Sherfield

* RB Cam Akers

* CB Fabian Moreau

* LB Kamu Grugier-Hill

* T David Quessenberry

* G Dan Feeney

* S Theo Jackson (RFA)

* P Ryan Wright (RFA)

Every Vikings free agent and their odds to return to Minnesota in 2025

Vikings draft picks

* Round 1, Pick 24

* Round 3, Pick 97 (projected compensatory selection)

* Round 5, Pick 140

* Round 5, Pick 161

Trading down from 24 feels inevitable for Vikings in this NFL draft

Additions

Coming soon

Departures

Grant Udinski: Hired as Jaguars’ offensive coordinator

Potential cut candidates

Extensions and restructures

Potential extension candidates

Quarterback rumors

Ugh. Adam Schefter has started the ‘Aaron Rodgers to Vikings’ speculation

Schefter: Raiders a team to watch for Sam Darnold in free agency

Kevin O’Connell says it out loud: ‘We drafted J.J. McCarthy for a reason’

ESPN: Vikings could use rare transition tag on Sam Darnold

Insider has ‘a hard time seeing’ Sam Darnold back in Minnesota this year

Other rumors

ESPN: Cam Bynum more likely than Byron Murphy Jr. to stay with Vikings

Goessling: Vikings will be ‘pretty aggressive’ in free agent guard market

General news

J.J. McCarthy expected to begin football drills ‘in the next few weeks’

Kevin O’Connell agrees to ‘blockbuster’ contract extension with Vikings

Stay up to date on all things Vikings by bookmarking Minnesota Vikings On SI, subscribing to our YouTube channel, and signing up to receive our free Vikings newsletter.

Published 45 Minutes Ago|Modified 6:31 PM EST

Will Ragatz

WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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Schefter: Raiders a team to watch for Sam Darnold in free agency

The Raiders make a lot of sense as a Darnold landing spot for a variety of reasons.

By Will Ragatz | Feb 9, 2025

Jan 27, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders coach Pete Carroll at press conference at Intermountain Health Performance Center.

Jan 27, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders coach Pete Carroll at press conference at Intermountain Health Performance Center. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Will Sam Darnold wind up joining Pete Carroll and Tom Brady in Las Vegas this year? ESPN’s Adam Schefter thinks it’s a possibility.

“One team that I would watch with Sam Darnold moving forward would be the Las Vegas Raiders,” Schefter said on ESPN’s NFL Countdown on Sunday. “I think at some point in time, they’re likely to have some interest in trying to bring Sam Darnold to Las Vegas. We’ll see if they can make that happen.”

The Raiders make quite a bit of sense as a potential Darnold landing spot for a variety of reasons. Carroll, the 73-year-old who was just hired as their new head coach, will likely want a win-now quarterback. Darnold is the top option on the free agent market, and it doesn’t hurt that he played at USC, where Carroll coached back in the 2000s. Brady, who owns a limited stake in the franchise, presumably also wants to go after the best available QB this offseason.

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Las Vegas has the No. 6 pick in this year’s draft, which could potentially put them out of range for top QB prospects Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders. They’ll want to at least sign some kind of starting-caliber veteran option prior to the draft. Another possibility for the Raiders, which was floated by Carroll’s former USC quarterback Mark Sanchez, is going after Daniel Jones.

The quarterback position is the most important question facing the Raiders’ new regime of Carroll and GM John Spytek. After cycling through Jimmy Garoppolo, Aidan O’Connell, Gardner Minshew, Brian Hoyer, and Desmond Ridder over the last two seasons, they need to address that area by adding at least one QB this offseason, if not multiple.

Coming off a Pro Bowl season with the Vikings, Darnold could potentially command a multi-year contract worth $35-40 million in free agency. If that’s the case, a return to Minnesota seems unlikely. Other potential suitors for Darnold include (but are certainly not limited to) the Titans, Giants, Jets, and Steelers.

J.J. McCarthy expected to begin football drills ‘in the next few weeks’

Stay up to date on all things Vikings by bookmarking Minnesota Vikings On SI, subscribing to our YouTube channel, and signing up to receive our free Vikings newsletter.

Published Feb 9, 2025

Will Ragatz

WILL RAGATZ

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