{"id":807680,"date":"2026-03-12T05:21:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T05:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/807680\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T05:21:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T05:21:30","slug":"vikings-cut-ties-with-former-steelers-defensive-lineman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/807680\/","title":{"rendered":"Vikings Cut Ties with Former Steelers Defensive Lineman"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"categories\"><a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/steelers-news\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Steelers News<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"788\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/HX33918-1-e1676220262429.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium tpd-force-16x9-aspect-ratio wp-post-image\" alt=\"Javon Hargrave Steelers\" decoding=\"sync\" loading=\"eager\"   fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Javon Hargrave in a game against the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 1, 2019. &#8212; Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>The Minnesota Vikings <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AdamSchefter\/status\/2031817419623473310\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\">released<\/a> former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/javon-hargrave\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Javon Hargrave<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Hargrave, who was drafted by the Steelers in 2016, carried a $21.4 million cap hit with $10.5M being in dead-cap according to Spotrac metrics. The Vikings saved just under $11M with the release of the 33-year-old veteran.<\/p>\n<p>The Vikings were up against the salary cap, so they had to make extensive cuts and restructures before the new league year. <\/p>\n<p>Hargrave just signed a two-year, $30 million contract with the Vikings during the 2025 offseason, but he had a disappointing first season.<\/p>\n<p>The 6-foot-2, 307-pound defensive tackle recorded just 52 tackles, 3.5 sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery in 16 games.<\/p>\n<p>Hargrave spent the first four years of his professional career in Pittsburgh, racking up 168 tackles, 14.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and two passes defensed.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"788\" height=\"510\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/HY15483.jpg\" alt=\"Steelers Javon Hargrave\" class=\"wp-image-6579\"  \/>Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Javon Hargrave during a game against the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 16, 2019. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n<p>However, following the 2019 season, he proved too costly for the Steelers to retain, and he joined the Philadelphia Eagles.<\/p>\n<p>Hargrave had arguably the best season of his career with the Eagles in 2022, when he had a career-high 11 sacks to go along with 60 tackles, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and two passes defensed.<\/p>\n<p>That season earned Hargrave an even bigger payday the next offseason, inking a four-year, $84 million deal with the San Francisco 49ers.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, Hargrave suffered a partially torn right tricep three games into the 2024 season and the 49ers released him in the offseason.<\/p>\n<p>Hargrave hasn\u2019t been the same player since, which could make him a cheap option if Pittsburgh is interested in a potential reunion, but the team will likely want to weigh all of its options before doing so.<\/p>\n<p>A native of Salisbury, North Carolina, Hargave has recorded 432 tackles, 49 sacks, five forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and eight passes defensed in his NFL career.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron Becker contributed. <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/javon-hargrave\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Javon Hargrave<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/minnesota-vikings\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Minnesota Vikings<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/pittsburgh-steelers\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/steelers\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Steelers<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/steelers-news\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Steelers News<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steelers News Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Javon Hargrave in a game against the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 1,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":764418,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[7,1824,259,6,520,57,2360,426,2395],"class_list":{"0":"post-807680","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-javon-hargrave","10":"tag-minnesota-vikings","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-pittsburgh","13":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","14":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","15":"tag-steelers","16":"tag-steelers-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116214530228115280","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807680","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=807680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/764418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}