{"id":39222,"date":"2025-05-10T14:27:20","date_gmt":"2025-05-10T14:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/39222\/"},"modified":"2025-05-10T14:27:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T14:27:20","slug":"the-vikings-striking-change-with-managing-the-team-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/39222\/","title":{"rendered":"The Vikings’ Striking Change with Managing the Team Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"NFL:Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The QB budget still sits among the league\u2019s lowest, even with the recent additions. <\/p>\n

The Vikings\u2019 striking change to their quarterback position is largely responsible for financing the major free-agent additions from the offseason (though there\u2019s a limit to that open room<\/a>). There\u2019s nothing new in the mere insistence that having J.J. McCarthy \u2014 and the savings that emanate from his rookie contract \u2014 helps to keep the finances ample, robust, and healthy. What may not be as obvious is just how dramatic the Vikings have skimped at quarterback, at least when it comes to cap space. <\/p>\n

The Vikings\u2019 Striking Change with QB Spending <\/p>\n

Very sensibly, many will think of Kirk Cousins as the contrast. <\/p>\n

The rock-solid on-field player is an elite quarterback at the negotiation table. The man knows how to make money, a basic reality that has long been evident. After all, he played his best football of his career with the Vikings from 2022-23 but then opted for a southward adventure by agreeing to a four-year contract that promised a huge $180 million. The Falcons are now looking a bit silly for the behemoth contract. <\/p>\n

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is unafraid to say \u201cno\u201d when entering a negotiation. The GM wisely said \u201cno\u201d to Cousins\u2019 price tag, instead pivoting toward Sam Darnold. <\/p>\n

\"\"Nov 10, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive end Payton Turner (98) forces a fumble on Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (18) during the first half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Mr. Darnold put together a career-best season as a Viking, piling up 35 passing touchdowns while clearing 4,000 passing yards (quite comfortably). More importantly, perhaps, is that his completion percentage sat at 66.2% \u2014 a career high. Oh, and the 14-3 record doesn\u2019t hurt either. <\/p>\n

Sam Darnold, very sensibly, leveraged his excellent season to land a beefy deal to become a Seahawk. He\u2019s now in Seattle on a three-year pact that\u2019s promising to pay $100.5 million. Again, Adofo-Mensah said \u201cno,\u201d instead preferring to go cheaper at the game\u2019s most important position. <\/p>\n

The top options are now J.J. McCarthy, Sam Howell, Brett Rypien, and Max Brosmer. So, a full house at the QB spot (leading to a logjam that makes new adds hard to fit<\/a>). The sophomore who got picked up at No. 10 \u2014 Mr. McCarthy \u2014 is carrying the largest cap hit by a decent clip, but he\u2019s still quite cheap. In fact, he\u2019s not even surpassing the $5 million mark in 2025. <\/p>\n

Combine all of the QB spending and the Vikings are sitting in the 3rd-lowest spot with just a touch beyond $6 million going toward the position. There are some important caveats, however. <\/p>\n

\"\"Aug 10, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) and center Michael Jurgens (65) warm up before the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

Right now, the OTC number only includes the McCarthy and Rypien deals. Consider how things will look once Howell and Brosmer get tossed into the mix: <\/p>\n

QB1: J.J. McCarthy, $4,966,999<\/p>\n

QB2: Sam Howell, $1,100,000<\/p>\n

QB3: Brett Rypien, $1,055,000<\/p>\n

QB4: Max Brosmer, $843,333 (Spotrac<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Even when we include the two new passers \u2014 Howell and Brosmer \u2014 we\u2019re still talking about adding less than $2 million. In the end, Minnesota\u2019s total quarterback cap hit in the 2025 offseason sits at a very modest $8(ish) million. Over in Dallas, Dak Prescott alone has a cap hit that exceeds $50 million in just 2025. <\/p>\n

A pair of other factors to consider. The two teams coming in lower than the Vikings for quarterback spending on OTC \u2014 the Titans and Steelers \u2014 aren\u2019t yet seeing the deal for Cam Ward added (Tennessee) and whatever veteran gets added (Pittsburgh). One wonders, then, if the Vikings march through the 2025 season with the lowest cap commitment to the quarterback spot in the entire NFL. <\/p>\n

\"NFL:Aug 2, 2024; Eagan, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) and quarterback Sam Darnold (14) warm up during practice at Vikings training camp in Eagan, MN. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

The Vikings\u2019 striking change to how they\u2019re spending at this position makes them a fascinating test case for Super Bowl contendership. Seeing J.J. McCarthy thrive early will mean that Minnesota will push for a playoff spot. Can they not just get into the final tournament but do damage once there?<\/p>\n

Winning it all \u2014 as unlikely as that seems \u2014 would represent a wild outcome given how cheap Adofo-Mensah has gone at QB. <\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.<\/p>\n

\"T.J.<\/a><\/p>\n

K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and Bluesky (@VikingsGazette). If you feel so inclined, subscribe to his Substack, The Vikings Gazette, for more great Vikings content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports The QB budget still sits among the league\u2019s lowest, even with the recent additions.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39223,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2073],"tags":[7,233,259,2529,6,1257,7238,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-39222","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-vikings","11":"tag-minnesotavikings","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-quarterback","14":"tag-salary-cap","15":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114484008987819137","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}