The back half of the defense will look a lot different in 2025
The Minnesota Vikings went with a lot of experienced veterans in the defensive secondary in 2024, and a couple of those players are reportedly considering not just leaving the Vikings, but hanging their cleats up for good.
Andrew Krammer of the Minnesota Star-Tribune is reporting that both cornerback Stephon Gilmore and safety Harrison Smith are contemplating retirement this offseason. They both came into the league the same year as part of the draft Class of 2012 and are among the oldest players in the league.
Smith was rumored to have considered hanging it up after last season, but he restructured his deal in order to come back to Minnesota for a thirteenth season. He should get significant Hall of Fame consideration at some point after he decides his career is over, given that he’s one of just seven players in NFL history to record at least 30 career interceptions and 20 quarterback sacks. Smith has been among the best safeties in the league for the majority of his NFL career, and hopefully he’ll get some respect for that once he takes the pads off for good.
Gilmore has had a great career as well, including winning the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2019. He’s become a bit of a journeyman in recent years, with the Vikings being his fifth team in the last four seasons. Even at age 34, he provided solid play at the cornerback spot throughout the year, missing two games with injury issues and starting the other fifteen. Per Krammer’s article, Gilmore has said that he’s “feeling it” more this offseason than he has in previous years, leading to him contemplating hanging it up.
The Vikings’ secondary will almost certainly look a lot different in 2025 than it did this year. In addition to Smith and Gilmore potentially retiring, they have three other pending free agents in Byron Murphy, Camryn Bynum, and Shaq Griffin. That would leave Josh Metellus as the only player on the back end of the defense who played significant snaps this year returning for next season, though it’s worth noting the team will get cornerback Mekhi Blackmon back after he suffered a torn ACL in the first practice of Training Camp.
What the Vikings do with the secondary is just one of the many stories that we’ll be keeping an eye on as the 2024 league year comes to an end and we start rolling into free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft. It’s going to be a pretty interesting offseason for the purple, that’s for sure.
