Which one would you prefer?
Even after a rough end to the 2024 season for our Minnesota Vikings, things look pretty promising going forward. They’re currently sitting on nearly $60 million in salary cap space as we sit a month away from the start of free agency, and they’ll have the ability to add to that figure as Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and company go through the roster and decide their plan of attack for the 2025 signing period.
One of the questions they’ll have to answer is in the secondary, as they have a pair of young players expected to hit free agency and they might not have the ability. . .or the desire. . .to bring both of them back. Those players are cornerback Byron Murphy, who the Vikings signed in free agency a couple of seasons ago and was a Pro Bowler for the Vikings this year, and safety Camryn Bynum, who was drafted by the Vikings four years ago and has provided solid contributions.
Behind the great E$PN paywall, Jeremy Fowler says that the Vikings still have the look of a contender in 2025, but he makes it sound like the Vikings are definitely leaning one way as far as the secondary is concerned.
How Minnesota allocates its healthy cap trove will be worth monitoring this offseason. The big question: Do the Vikings pay Sam Darnold? They haven’t made a firm determination on this, but many around the league see them starting over with J.J. McCarthy if a new suitor prices Darnold out of Minnesota. Like with Kirk Cousins, the Vikings won’t mortgage their future on a free agent quarterback contract. Several free agents — Byron Murphy II, Camryn Bynum, Cam Robinson, Aaron Jones — could get cushy deals elsewhere, but GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has shown adaptability in adding new talent. (A prime example is last season’s pass-rush duo of Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel.) In the secondary, the sense here is Murphy walks but Bynum could stay under a new deal.
I’m not totally sure how things are going to play out as far as free agency goes, but I might be a bit surprised if the Vikings were to let Murphy walk away. He was their best cornerback last season and is still young enough to have a significant impact on the secondary this season. Bynum has been very good, but it just feels like safety is an easier spot to fill than cornerback would be. Maybe I’m wrong on that.
Thankfully, because the NFL has made themselves a year-round enterprise, we won’t have to wait long to get the answer to this and a lot of other questions that the Vikings will have to answer in free agency.
