Free agency is going to be an interesting time for the Minnesota Vikings.
When you look at the future for the Vikings, there are a lot of question marks. How will they clear cap space to add talent? Will they be aggressive in the market or prefer to keep their players in house?
Looking at that will be really interesting throughout the next few months because the success they have had over the last two years has been varied. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah will have some difficult decisions to make.
The Vikings have 28 free agents this offseason and seven of them made Pro Football Focus’ top 150 free agents list.
QB Kirk Cousins
Rank: 2nd
An ill-timed torn Achilles derailed another strong season from Cousins, and he looked set to have a host of suitors in free agency, as he did back in 2018. Cousins still has the requisite arm strength to throw to all levels of the field and has been as accurate as ever in recent seasons.
OLB Danielle Hunter
Rank: 12th
Hunter was a revelation in new Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ blitz-heavy scheme, though he was just as productive in 2022. Teams that run a 3-4 or 4-3 could probably find a way to effectively deploy Hunter, and injury concerns of a few years ago seem like distant memories. He finished another season with 900-plus snaps, 70-plus quarterback pressures and double-digit sacks.
LG Dalton Risner
Rank: 65th
Risner’s 2023 free agency didn’t pan out as he’d hoped, so he bided his time before joining the Minnesota Vikings a few weeks into the 2023 season on a one-year flier. Risner quickly supplanted Ezra Cleveland at left guard and has been a plus pass protector for the fifth season in a row.
Risner does well to initiate contact with a solid punch, ensuring he doesn’t expose his chest or get his hands swatted away. Even on bull rushes where Risner is driven back and gives up pressure, he keeps his feet square and stays in front of the rusher to prevent a hit on the quarterback, frequently providing this signal-caller with just enough time to still get a pass off.
ILB Jordan Hicks
Rank: 96th
Hicks was having his best season in a half-decade through Week 10 before a scary injury required a trip to the hospital and an extended absence from football, but he did return in Week 16. Hicks moves well north to south and packs a punch as a tackler, rarely missing many opportunities despite a very high volume in defensive stops and total tackles over the past five years. He has some limitations in coverage at this stage of his career, with average stop-and-start ability horizontally, but Hicks is a tone-setter over the middle who makes a ton of plays each week.
OLB Marcus Davenport
Rank: 127th
OLB D.J. Wonnum
Rank: 141st
WR K.J. Osborn
Rank: 142nd
