Even though the Minnesota Vikings haven’t made any big, splashy moves in free agency yet, we wanted to make sure you had all of the moves that they’ve made so far available to you. There were a few that happened that flew under the radar that we missed, so let’s get them all taken care of in one spot for you here, shall we?
First off, the Vikings tendered restricted free agent linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. at the lowest possible level. For restricted free agents, this means that if another team were to
sign Pace to an offer sheet, the Vikings would have seven days to decide whether or not they wanted to match it. If they chose not to, Pace would then go to a new team. Under most circumstances, the losing team would then receive a pick equal to the round in which that player was drafted. However, since Pace was an undrafted free agent, the Vikings would get nothing in return if they chose not to match the offer sheet.
As our friend Eric Thompson said on Twitter/X about the news, it’s basically the friend zone of restricted free agency. I can’t put it better than that, so I won’t try.
Next, the Vikings also tendered all three of their Exclusive Rights Free Agents: defensive lineman Jalen Redmond, edge Bo Richter, and running back Zavier Scott. As we said when we did our free agent primer last month, ERFAs really aren’t FAs at all. If their current team extends them a one-year offer at the minimum salary, they’re basically stuck and can’t negotiate with any other team. The Vikings extended that offer to all three of those players, so they’ll be back with the Vikings next season. Redmond is a candidate for a longer-term deal, given the strength of his 2025 performance, but they’ll definitely all be back in the fold for 2026.
Lastly, we have some more information on the restructure that the Vikings did on the contract of tight end T.J. Hockenson a couple of days ago. Essentially, what happened is that Hockenson agreed to a pay cut, taking approximately $5 million off of his salary for 2026. In exchange, the Vikings agreed to cut his contract a year short, meaning that he will be a free agent after this coming season rather than after the 2027 season, letting him hit unrestricted free agency a year earlier than he was scheduled to.
One important aspect of this to keep in mind if the Vikings let him go. Because the Vikings restructured Hockenson’s contract to let him hit free agency early, if he should sign with another team, he will not count as part of the Compensatory pick formula. That means the Vikings would get nothing for him if he signs somewhere else during the 2027 offseason. If Hockenson bounces back, the Vikings could look to keep him around and make that a non-issue. If he doesn’t. . .well, then it’s a non-issue anyway.
I believe that should get us up to speed on everything the Vikings have done over the last 24 hours or so. We’re keeping track of everything on our Vikings Free Agency Tracker, so make sure you’re keeping at least one browser tab pointed there so you can stay updated on all the latest as it happens.
