Vikings Offseason 2026

[Vanimal46]

The 1st wave of FA came and went in a flash. As far as 2nd wave, I could see the Vikes signing a veteran WR to compete with Felton for WR 3, swing tackle/guard, and a run stuffing DT. 

[Vanimal46]

On this day 6 years ago in 2020, Stefon Diggs was traded to the Bills. On this same day, the Vikings extended Kirk Cousins for the first of way too many "extensions" until 2024. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Dumb question but is it Murray as QB1 or is it a so-called competition? (assuming McCarthy doesn’t hurt himself doing something before camp)

Thats a lot of quarterback whispering. I don’t know how much longer O’Connell can do this. 

[TheLeviathan]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

The 1st wave of FA came and went in a flash. As far as 2nd wave, I could see the Vikes signing a veteran WR to compete with Felton for WR 3, swing tackle/guard, and a run stuffing DT. 

A few guys I like:

Jihad Ward and DJ Wonnum both know the defense and likely come cheap.

AJ Epenesa is a solid rotation guy.

Greg Dortch or Jahan Dotson at WR

[Vanimal46]

His tender was $3.5 million similar to Pace Jr, and we signed him for $4.2 million guaranteed from what I'm seeing on the interwebz. If he indeed signs here that's our swing tackle/guard. 

[nicksaviking]

2 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

His tender was $3.5 million similar to Pace Jr, and we signed him for $4.2 million guaranteed from what I'm seeing on the interwebz. If he indeed signs here that's our swing tackle/guard. 

Hopefully they get him. Not sure what the Bills cap situation is.

The Vikings also signed formerly great car salesman Denny Hecker  punter Johnny Hekker.

They of course had to do that because their salary cap situation is so bleak they couldn't afford to retain their punter. That sentence has surely never been uttered before.

[Danchat]

On 3/16/2026 at 10:04 PM, TheLeviathan said:

A few guys I like:

Jihad Ward and DJ Wonnum both know the defense and likely come cheap.

AJ Epenesa is a solid rotation guy.

Greg Dortch or Jahan Dotson at WR

Dotson got $7.5M per year (somehow) with the Falcons, Wonnum just signed with the Lions for $6M. Ward can work as a passing down DL, but they need a couple of run stuffers. I am surprised Epenesa is still available but as a bigger edge I'm not sure what his fit is, whether it be like Greenard's role or iDL like Ward would be.

Dortch makes a ton of sense as a guy who has chemistry with Kyler and will come for the vet minimum.

[nicksaviking]

Wow yeah, Epenesa looks like a underrated high pressure guy. He'd be a fantastic rotational piece. I'd be interested in Dante Fowler too.

I'm not sure about Dortch unless KOC changes his playbook. Seems like a lot of Dortch's plays were manufactured touches closer to the line of scrimmage. The Vikings don't seem to do a lot of that stuff, and when they do, it's with Jefferson, and I'm in favor of Jefferson getting as much work as possible. With Murray at QB, I think I'd like a big bodied slot WR this year. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine maybe? How much will Keenan Allen cost? Can't be too much.

Edit:  Westbook-Ikhine is now off the board.  I have to say, 2026 is becoming a terribly boring year to play Guess the Vikings Free Agent Signings.

[nicksaviking]

Ha, and now Dortch is going to the Lions.

Maybe we should stop brining up the players we're still interested in.

[Danchat]

2 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

Ha, and now Dortch is going to the Lions.

Maybe we should stop brining up the players we're still interested in.

Yup, and Epenesa just signed with the Browns for "up to" $5M... geez, he didn't have any market. That's a steal.

[Vanimal46]

3 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

Ha, and now Dortch is going to the Lions.

Maybe we should stop brining up the players we're still interested in.

Well we should have known this specific thread was a hot spot for NFL GMs 

[Vanimal46]

On 3/16/2026 at 10:04 PM, TheLeviathan said:

A few guys I like:

Jihad Ward

I forget which Vikings podcast it was, Purple Daily or Purple Insider, but old friend Ward was brought up. In a B-Flo defense, the interior DL's main duty is taking up multiple blockers so the LBs behind him can eat on pressures and sacks. Ward seemed to thrive in that role here. It convinced me to bring back an old friend on a cheap 1 year deal. 

[Vanimal46]

On 3/16/2026 at 11:49 AM, Mike Sixel said:

Smith is as old as Vanimal, right?

Harry the Hitman is 1 year 3 months and 4 days older than me. Picked in the NFL draft when I graduated college... Maybe that's why I love the new sheriff in town Andrew Chafin. I'm a month older than him... My time in the MLB is running out quickly. 

[Vanimal46]

The stage is being set to trade away McCarthy IMO 

[nicksaviking]

20 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

The stage is being set to trade away McCarthy IMO 

Yeah, oddly, this move makes it look more like KOC has given up on him than the move to sign Murray. They had talked about adding 'competition' for the starting job all offseason. Now they've added 'competition' for the back up job? 

Not that it was ever much a consideration for me, but what do you get for McCarthy? Trey Lance only got a 4th, though I think he had one less year of control. Darnold got traded for a 2nd and and 4th and a 6th though that 2nd was for TWO drafts out. I'd take a 2027 2nd for sure.

[Danchat]

1 minute ago, nicksaviking said:

Yeah, oddly, this move makes it look more like KOC has given up on him than the move to sign Murray. They had talked about adding 'competition' for the starting job all offseason. Now they've added 'competition' for the back up job? 

Not that it was ever much a consideration for me, but what do you get for McCarthy? Trey Lance only got a 4th, though I think he had one less year of control. Darnold got traded for a 2nd and and 4th and a 6th though that 2nd was for TWO drafts out. I'd take a 2027 2nd for sure.

The Lance comparison is apt, the Cowboys traded a 4th for his 3rd and 4th year of his contract. It's basically the same situation.

Methinks the Wentz move is to make sure Brosmer never sets foot onto the gridiron ever again... but if JJM can't beat him out for the QB2 job, then they may as well ship him off. 

[nicksaviking]

2 minutes ago, Danchat said:

The Lance comparison is apt, the Cowboys traded a 4th for his 3rd and 4th year of his contract. It's basically the same situation.

Methinks the Wentz move is to make sure Brosmer never sets foot onto the gridiron ever again... but if JJM can't beat him out for the QB2 job, then they may as well ship him off. 

Wentz picked up the offense in a month and McCarthy couldn't pick it up in two years. Not surprising as Wentz was a well travelled veteran, but I think there's little chance McCarthy would beat out Wentz. Back up QBs are almost always the low ceiling high floor guys who help with preparation beyond what happens on the field.

When we find out Wentz's salary, maybe that will tell us something. Minshew got 5.7M, Trubisky got 5.2M AAV, Mariota got 7M. Lance got 6.7M. If Wentz is getting something in that range, I have a hard time seeing him being a healthy scratch on game days. 

[Vanimal46]

25 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Not that it was ever much a consideration for me, but what do you get for McCarthy? Trey Lance only got a 4th, though I think he had one less year of control. Darnold got traded for a 2nd and and 4th and a 6th though that 2nd was for TWO drafts out. I'd take a 2027 2nd for sure.

A 4th sounds right... Maybe conditional to a 3rd or 2nd depending on games played or snap count. I've had the feeling since the offseason began that KOC has given up on him. So it's time to rip off the band aid and move on. 

[TheLeviathan]

22 hours ago, Danchat said:

Dotson got $7.5M per year (somehow) with the Falcons, Wonnum just signed with the Lions for $6M. Ward can work as a passing down DL, but they need a couple of run stuffers. I am surprised Epenesa is still available but as a bigger edge I'm not sure what his fit is, whether it be like Greenard's role or iDL like Ward would be.

Dortch makes a ton of sense as a guy who has chemistry with Kyler and will come for the vet minimum.

I am shocked by those two contracts.

I envision Epenesa as a 5 technique and a pass rush guy from the inside.

[Parfigliano]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

The stage is being set to trade away McCarthy IMO 

Sure looks like it.

[Danchat]

47 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Wentz picked up the offense in a month and McCarthy couldn't pick it up in two years. Not surprising as Wentz was a well travelled veteran, but I think there's little chance McCarthy would beat out Wentz. Back up QBs are almost always the low ceiling high floor guys who help with preparation beyond what happens on the field.

When we find out Wentz's salary, maybe that will tell us something. Minshew got 5.7M, Trubisky got 5.2M AAV, Mariota got 7M. Lance got 6.7M. If Wentz is getting something in that range, I have a hard time seeing him being a healthy scratch on game days. 

He ran the offense better, but he was also was a worse deep to intermediate passer than JJM. I was digging through the PFF pass depth stats earlier and found that Wentz was one of the worst deep passers in the league last year (lines up with my eye test, we would have won the Eagles game if he could have hit a couple of wide open receivers deep) and a bit worse in the intermediate range than JJM. The main difference was short passes, Wentz was still poorly rated but better than JJM. He also held onto the ball too long and took too many sacks. That combination is how Wentz's PFF grade ended up at 50.8, quite a bit below JJM's 61.8. I guess you can blame the injury to some degree

I expect his salary to be something like base $2M. I don't think he had much interest around the league outside of the Jets who kicked the tires but didn't get that deal done for whatever reason. If JJM matures this offseason and improves even a little bit, I think he is QB2 over Wentz.

[The Great Hambino]

Personally, I don't see bringing back Wentz as a referendum on JJ.  It's more of an acknowledgement that putting yourselves in a position to rely on an undrafted rookie QB is a bad idea.  A semi-reliable 3rd QB was always going to be necessary when your top 2 QBs are made of papier mache.  And since you're only looking at unattractive options for that role (assuming you don't want to YOLO with Jameis), might as well make it someone with some history in your system.

I suppose bringing him in does give them some cover if they do decide to move JJ

[Vanimal46]

1 hour ago, Danchat said:

He ran the offense better, but he was also was a worse deep to intermediate passer than JJM. I was digging through the PFF pass depth stats earlier and found that Wentz was one of the worst deep passers in the league last year (lines up with my eye test, we would have won the Eagles game if he could have hit a couple of wide open receivers deep) and a bit worse in the intermediate range than JJM. The main difference was short passes, Wentz was still poorly rated but better than JJM. He also held onto the ball too long and took too many sacks. That combination is how Wentz's PFF grade ended up at 50.8, quite a bit below JJM's 61.8. I guess you can blame the injury to some degree

I expect his salary to be something like base $2M. I don't think he had much interest around the league outside of the Jets who kicked the tires but didn't get that deal done for whatever reason. If JJM matures this offseason and improves even a little bit, I think he is QB2 over Wentz.

I'm skeptical that Wentz would sign with the Vikings this early in the offseason to be a QB 3. If that is the case, why wouldn't he wait out the QB market like he did last year? 

I'm trying not to get tunnel vision but in my eyes the plan has been clear since before the regular season ended. They were gonna load up the QB room with veterans because KOC is done with JJM. 

[Danchat]

8 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

I'm skeptical that Wentz would sign with the Vikings this early in the offseason to be a QB 3. If that is the case, why wouldn't he wait out the QB market like he did last year? 

I'm trying not to get tunnel vision but in my eyes the plan has been clear since before the regular season ended. They were gonna load up the QB room with veterans because KOC is done with JJM. 

They might ship him off for a 4th round pick, that's true. Once we get Wentz's contract numbers, we should learn quite a bit. Having some kind of signing bonus would be a reason for him to sign now and not wait it out... but I don't think he was getting many, if any QB2 offers elsewhere other than the Jets. 

[nicksaviking]

1 hour ago, Danchat said:

He ran the offense better, but he was also was a worse deep to intermediate passer than JJM. I was digging through the PFF pass depth stats earlier and found that Wentz was one of the worst deep passers in the league last year (lines up with my eye test, we would have won the Eagles game if he could have hit a couple of wide open receivers deep) and a bit worse in the intermediate range than JJM. The main difference was short passes, Wentz was still poorly rated but better than JJM. He also held onto the ball too long and took too many sacks. That combination is how Wentz's PFF grade ended up at 50.8, quite a bit below JJM's 61.8. I guess you can blame the injury to some degree

I expect his salary to be something like base $2M. I don't think he had much interest around the league outside of the Jets who kicked the tires but didn't get that deal done for whatever reason. If JJM matures this offseason and improves even a little bit, I think he is QB2 over Wentz.

I don't know about his PFF grades, but I do know he was the better fit for Jefferson. 34 catches for 477 yards in the five games they played together, and those games included by far the three toughest defenses the Vikings played last year. That was over 40% of his season output in five games and that pace was better than Jefferson had with Darnold. 

Anyway, not a Wentz endorsement so much as another plea to keep McCarthy off of the field and a desire to keep Jefferson active and happy.

[TheLeviathan]

4 hours ago, The Great Hambino said:

Personally, I don't see bringing back Wentz as a referendum on JJ.  It's more of an acknowledgement that putting yourselves in a position to rely on an undrafted rookie QB is a bad idea.  A semi-reliable 3rd QB was always going to be necessary when your top 2 QBs are made of papier mache.  And since you're only looking at unattractive options for that role (assuming you don't want to YOLO with Jameis), might as well make it someone with some history in your system.

I suppose bringing him in does give them some cover if they do decide to move JJ

I also would argue they looked at the "games missed" stat for JJM and Murray and decided to sign Wentz as insurance against another Brosmer start.

[Vanimal46]

Something has felt off about McCarthy and the Vikings since he first injured his knee in preseason 2024. Off the top of my head…

- Required a 2nd knee later on in 2024 season 

- Lost a ton of weight. Durability concerns are raised. 

- Team gets mad when JJM didn’t disclose ankle injury in 2025 

- is made QB 3 at Chargers and played a broken Wentz instead. 

- KOC spends multiple weeks relentlessly talking about JJM’s mechanics 

- JJM defies his coach griddying into the end zone and JJM said KOC telling him not to do that made him want to do that even more. 

- Countless leaks about the team dumbing down the offense, removing pass routes over middle of the field 

- Countless leaks that KOC was over ruled and never wanted to play JJM last year 

[TheLeviathan]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

Something has felt off about McCarthy and the Vikings since he first injured his knee in preseason 2024. Off the top of my head…

- Required a 2nd knee later on in 2024 season 

- Lost a ton of weight. Durability concerns are raised. 

- Team gets mad when JJM didn’t disclose ankle injury in 2025 

- is made QB 3 at Chargers and played a broken Wentz instead. 

- KOC spends multiple weeks relentlessly talking about JJM’s mechanics 

- JJM defies his coach griddying into the end zone and JJM said KOC telling him not to do that made him want to do that even more. 

- Countless leaks about the team dumbing down the offense, removing pass routes over middle of the field 

- Countless leaks that KOC was over ruled and never wanted to play JJM last year 

There does seem to be a personal issue.  My guess is KOC hates the immaturity.

[Vanimal46]

42 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

There does seem to be a personal issue.  My guess is KOC hates the immaturity.

I also forgot the team forced him to play with a broken throwing hand when we were eliminated from the playoffs weeks prior. 

[nicksaviking]

1 hour ago, TheLeviathan said:

There does seem to be a personal issue.  My guess is KOC hates the immaturity.

I'll say I'm annoyed by the immaturity. But for years I've said I don't need a QB I want to hang out with, I need one who has the talent and ego enough to carry a team to a championship. So I won't demand maturity if the elite effort and production are there.

But in this case, I 100% believe the immaturity is the root cause of McCarthy's problems. A good part due to inexperience, which is not his fault. But another good part due to things that may be related to study, effort and other between the ears issues. Way too tone deaf too.