Shortly after losing wide receiver Jalen Nailor to the Las Vegas Raiders, the Minnesota Vikings suffered a second loss in the “legal tampering” period of free agency, and this one could be a bigger loss than a lot of people think.
Punter Ryan Wright, who may have had his best season in 2025, has agreed to a four-year, $18 million deal to join the New Orleans Saints in free agency.
Wright signed as an undrafted free agent with the Vikings in 2022 after playing his college ball at Tulane. After beating out Jordan Berry in training camp, Wright held onto the job for four seasons. He won a Special Teams Player of the Week Award in Week 6 of the 2022 season, a game where he punted ten times against the Miami Dolphins, including a then-career-long 73-yarder. (He topped that with a 77-yarder this past season.)
Just as importantly, Wright has served as the holder for the Vikings all four years he’s been with the team, including this past season when Will Reichard had one of the best years for a kicker in Vikings’ history. That sort of thing can’t really be understated. With Wright now leaving for New Orleans and All-Pro long snapper Andrew DePaola not yet being re-signed, at least one-third of the Vikings’ kicking battery, and possibly two-thirds, will be different going into the 2026 season.
We want to wish Ryan Wright the best of luck going forward. . .except, of course, when he plays against the Vikings.
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