Kyle Rudolph, Riley Reiff Headline List of Potential Vikings Cap Casualties
As things stand right now, with the start of free agency two weeks away, the Vikings are roughly $7 million dollars above the projected 2021 salary cap of $185 million (per Spotrac). That means Minnesota needs to make several moves to clear up space in order to become cap compliant and have room to pursue free agent additions.
There are several ways to do that, including extensions and restructured deals where base salary is converted to signing bonus money and prorated over future years. But the most simple way of clearing cap space is to release expensive veterans who aren't living up to their contract.
We've seen this process unfolding across the NFL recently, with players becoming "cap casualties" when their team needs to release them for financial purposes. The Vikings haven't made any such moves yet, but they're coming. Let's look at some of the team's big-name players who may end up being cut to clear cap space, much like Xavier Rhodes and Linval Joseph were last year.
The Easy Decisions
TE Kyle Rudolph
Rudolph, the Vikings' longest-tenured player, appears to be as good as gone. In January, he went on a podcast with Ben Leber and said he's not going to take a pay cut. Recently, Darren Wolfson has reported that he expects Rudolph to be released. It makes a lot of sense, as Rudolph is coming off consecutive seasons with fewer than 400 receiving yards and has a $9.5 million cap hit in 2021 that ranks fourth among tight ends.
The Vikings could create over $5 million in cap space by cutting Rudolph, which makes it a no-brainer even though they'd eat nearly as much in dead money. With Irv Smith Jr. and Tyler Conklin having proven to be a very capable TE duo, this one feels like a simple way for the Vikings to kick off the offseason. But that doesn't mean it won't be difficult, considering Rudolph has been in Minnesota for ten years and is a huge part of the Twin Cities community with his charitable work.
Update: The Vikings released Rudolph on Tuesday afternoon.
DT Shamar Stephen
Stephen is the definition of a league-average nose tackle. He's capable of occupying blockers and adding value in the running game, but gives you nothing as a pass rusher. With Michael Pierce coming back after opting out of last season, the Vikings no longer need Stephen's services. They can create $3.75 million in cap space by cutting him and can use free agency and the draft to add to a defensive tackle group headlined by Pierce and Armon Watts.
The Complex Decisions
LT Riley Reiff
No player on the Vikings' roster would come with more cap space created by a release than Reiff. If they cut him, they would clear up nearly $12 million, according to Over The Cap. But it's not that simple. Reiff was the Vikings' second-best offensive lineman last year, allowing just 21 pressures and one sack all year long. If you release him, you're getting rid of one of the stronger links on a very weak O-line. It could create more problems than it solves.
However, it's something the Vikings absolutely need to consider. If they feel like Ezra Cleveland is ready to move back to his college position of left tackle, releasing Reiff makes a lot of sense. They would then need two new guards, but they'd have some money to pursue them in free agency.
The Vikings could also look to extend Reiff, lowering his cap hit in 2021 but adding guaranteed money to future years of his contract. The fact that they gave him a good faith $1 million bonus on an incentive he just missed suggests that an extension is a possibility. If the Vikings like Cleveland more as a guard, keeping Reiff around might be their best move.
LB Anthony Barr
I just wrote about Barr's contract situation the other day, so I won't go into too much detail here. But the gist of it is this: the Vikings could create over $7 million in cap space by cutting Barr, although they'd eat even more than that in dead money. His $15 million cap hit in 2021 is far too high for an off-ball linebacker who hasn't had an elite season since 2015 and is coming off of a major injury. Barr isn't interested in a pay cut.
The Vikings probably don't want to release Barr, given all of the dead money involved and the fact that he's an important part of Mike Zimmer's run defense and blitz packages. But they might have to. The other possibility is they restructure his deal by converting base salary to signing bonus and pushing some of his big cap hit to 2022, when the cap is expected to jump back up.
Other potential cuts
K Dan Bailey
Bailey was the worst kicker in the NFL last season, statistically. His meltdown towards the end of the year may have single-handedly cost the Vikings a playoff berth, although it's hard to argue they deserved to be in the playoffs anyways. In response to Bailey's awful season, Minnesota went out and signed Greg Joseph in February. There could be a kicking competition between those two in training camp, or the Vikings could simply cut Bailey, save $1.7 million, and hand the job to Joseph.
P Britton Colquitt
Colquitt wasn't a disaster like Bailey, but he wasn't good either. If the Vikings think they can find a cheaper upgrade at punter, cutting Colquitt to save $1.8 million makes sense.
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