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The Minnesota Vikings Spent How Much More Than Everyone Else?!
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- The Minnesota Vikings Spent How Much More Than Everyone Else?!
Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings
Entering the 2025 NFL offseason, the Minnesota Vikings had a boatload of salary cap space available. And after moving on from Kirk Cousins last year, then drafting JJ McCarthy, Kevin O'Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah set themselves up for a free agency shopping spree that would have made a child on a Toys-R-Us run jealous.
Minnesota's offseason isn't over, but the heavy lifting is largely done. That means the GM and head coach can focus on plugging smaller holes and tweaking the roster, as the Vikings get ready for the season ahead .
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The Minnesota Vikings went on quite the talent shopping spree this offseason?
To date, the Minnesota Vikings have shored up both the offensive and defensive lines, by signing (C) Ryan Kelly , (LG) Will Fries , (DT) Javon Hargrave , and (DT) Jonathan Allen , all of which were ranked inside The Athletic's Top 15 free agents entering the offseason.
Jonathan Allen with the spinning back fist sack pic.twitter.com/tl1kqBvaGm
— mike (@bengals_sans) July 5, 2024
They also re-signed Byron Murphy Jr. and Aaron Jones , along with less celebrated free agent signings like (CB) Isaiah Rodgers , (CB) Jeff Okudah , (S) Bubba Bolden , (LB) Eric Wilson and (T) Jacob Skule, among others.
Related: Report: NFL Teams Still Wonder if Aaron Rodgers is Waiting for MN Vikings
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Of course, high-end help isn't cheap. And given how many good players the Minnesota Vikings added/brought back this offseason, the total bill ended up being way more than any other team in the NFL has spent, since the 2024 season ended in February.
How much did all this talent cost the Vikings?
According to Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press, the Vikings $362.3 million in total contract dollars is $22 million more than the second place Buffalo Bills . The Chicago Bears are second in the NFC North, in contract dollars signed, at nearly $319 millions.
The $264 million Minnesota has spent on 12 free agent contracts ranks second in the NFL and trails only the New England Patriots ' $359.6 million spent on 16 contracts.
The Vikings so far this year are No. 1 in the NFL in cash spent on players, $362.3 million, per spotrac.com. The Packers at $259.5 million, are No. 27 in the 32-team league. Last season, the Vikings ranked 18th at $228.4 million, the Packers 19th at $234 million.
If we know anything in Minnesota, it's that in other sports like baseball, money buys happiness. Unfortunately, with a hard salary cap in place, the same cannot be said in the National Football League, where money spent in free agency rarely correlates to winning.
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For Kevin O'Connell and the rest of the Vikings coaching staff, that is their challenge. Fitting all of these new (and sometimes expensive) pieces into a puzzle that can win games, both in the regular season and playoffs.
