It was the late-20th Century philosophers Bone Thugs-n-Harmony who once took pleasure in reminding us to wake up because it is, in fact, the first of the month. But on this particular 1 June, the Minnesota Vikings are giving themselves a bit of breathing room under the salary cap thanks to a couple of transactions they made a few months ago.
Because the team designated defensive lineman Jonathan Allen and safety Harrison Smith as post-1 June releases back in March, they receive some salary cap relief
today because such a designation allows them to spread a dead salary cap figure out over two seasons rather than having to absorb the figure all at once. That means that they have gained $11.2 million in cap space from Allen’s deal coming off of the books, as well as another $1.3 million from Smith’s contract for a total of around $12.5 million.
The move with Smith’s contract was a procedural move, as at that point the veteran safety had not come to a conclusion as to whether or not he was going to return to the Vikings for a fifteenth season in 2026. Now that we’ve made it to 1 June, Smith. . .still, apparently, hasn’t made a decision. We do have about six or seven weeks before training camp will officially get underway in Eagan, but for now we don’t know whether or not the Hitman will be back with the team this coming season.
Allen signed a big-money deal with the Cincinnati Bengals shortly after the Vikings let him go, which will prove beneficial to the Vikings in terms of next season’s salary cap. Rather than having to eat another big dead money hit, a large portion of that will be offset by an $8 million cap credit as a result of the deal that he signed with Cincinnati. The Vikings will still have to take a hit, but it will be just under $5 million. Thank you, Bengals!
As to what the Vikings might do with their newfound salary cap space, the answer is. . .probably not a whole heck of a lot. They’ve got their entire draft class signed, and we’ve reached the point of the offseason where the really isn’t a whole lot sitting out there in free agency, and a lot of the veteran players who are out there are likely in the “do I really want to go through training camp” stage of their careers and probably wouldn’t sign anything until late August or early September after rosters have been trimmed anyway. That and the guy that they just signed to be the new General Manager is probably still moving boxes of stuff into his office and what not so it might take a bit before we see any meaningful moves out of the Vikings.
But, in the event the Vikings do want to make a few moves, the money is definitely there for them to be able to do some things.
