Though the Vikings had announced deals for former Bills defensive tackle Harrison Phillips and former Cardinals linebacker Jordan Hicks — their two most expensive additions of free agency so far — they hadn't actually arranged for either player to sign his contract before Friday.
There was a very good reason for that: The Vikings needed to clear space to fit both players under their salary cap.
They've done that now, after converting safety Harrison Smith's $8 million roster bonus to a signing bonus. Smith was due the roster bonus, as well as a $2.95 million base salary guarantee, on Friday. By converting the roster bonus to a signing bonus, the Vikings spread the $8 million cap charge out over the final four years of Smith's deal and pushed $6 million of cap costs into future years.
