Vikings make significant move that shows what their free agency priorities are

There are a lot of different things that the Minnesota Vikings need to accomplish in free agency and the NFL Draft.

Not only does the secondary need 4-6 pieces, but the defensive line and offensive line need to be fortified. They let the Vikings down in the last two games of the season and were ultimately the biggest reason why they didn’t make it farther in the NFC playoffs.

The other major element is the running game. The top two running backs for the Vikings are set to be free agents this March, but they took a significant step in retaining one of them.

Vikings, Aaron Jones agree to contract adjustment

One of the big things that the Vikings need to figure out is what free agents they want to bring back. One of the key dates to bring them back is February 17th, as multiple contracts end up voiding on that day, meaning any salary cap space that was supposed to be paid out over time (signing and option bonuses) accelerates to 2025.

On Saturday morning, ESPN’s Field Yates reported that the Vikings had extended the void date on running back Aaron Jones from this Monday to the day before free agency.

The Vikings and RB Aaron Jones agreed to move the void date on his contract from this Monday until the final day before free agency.

If Jones had not been extended by Monday, the team would have taken on $3.2M in dead money in 2025.

This isn’t foreign to the Vikings. They have moved around multiple void dates over the last few years, including Dalvin Tomlinson two years ago and Marcus Davenport last year. The idea here is to give the Vikings more time to try and extend Jones for at least one or two more years.

Jones played a full season for the third time in his career in 2024. He also had his most successful season from a yardage perspective. His 1,138 rushing yards were a career-high and 408 receiving yards were the second-highest in his career. He was also just 12 yards from having the most scrimmage yards in a single season.

Bringing back Jones would be a huge aspect for the Vikings, who need to elevate their running game to another level.