Vikings June 1 Cap Space Update With Kyle Rudolph's Contract Coming Off the Books
On Wednesday, June 2nd, the Vikings will officially gain $7.9 million in salary cap space, bumping them up to roughly $14 million overall.
Why? Because that's when the contract of former tight end Kyle Rudolph comes off of their books. The Vikings cut their longest-tenured player in March and designated the move as post-June 1st. Each team is allowed to designate up to two moves that way; it's a strategic decision that pushes some of the salary cap impact into the following year.
What that meant for Minnesota is that Rudolph's contract would stay on the books for a few more months, but $2.9 million of the $4.35 million in dead money from cutting him won't hit their cap until 2022. They weren't able to use any of the $7.9 million in cap space during the peak free agency period, but now it's theirs to use.
This is a significant boost to the Vikings' financial flexibility. Only two teams are gaining more cap space than Minnesota on Wednesday.
With the additional cap space, the Vikings are now 13th in the NFL in that department, according to Over The Cap.
Naturally, the next question is this one: what will Rick Spielman, Rob Brzezinski, and the rest of the Vikings' front office do with the money?
A simple but important order of business is to sign the four drafted rookies who have not yet put pen to paper. Coincidentally, those are the four players the Vikings drafted in the third round: Kellen Mond, Chazz Surratt, Wyatt Davis, and Patrick Jones II.
Those signings will take up minimal cap space because of the way the Top 51 Contracts rule works. Based on looking at the picks around them, each of the four players will have a 2021 cap hit of approximately $880K (Jones) to just shy of $1 million (Mond). That means they'll enter the Vikings' top 51 contracts and push out four players in the $780K-$840K range. In total, that should use up less than $500K in cap space.
The Vikings could use some of the $13 million and change available to them to sign another impact free agent or two. They hosted cornerback Bashaud Breeland for a visit in May, although nothing appears to have happened on that front. There are still a bunch of veterans out there who could help the Vikings, who still could use more talent at pass rusher, corner, and wide receiver, to name a few key positions.
Perhaps the more likely way that money will be spent is on contract extensions for important players like Danielle Hunter, Brian O'Neill and/or Harrison Smith.
Read: Hunter, Gladney, and Other Remaining Offseason Questions for the Vikings
Hunter's situation and his absence at OTAs has been well-documented, and both O'Neill and Smith are heading into the final year of their contract. Tight end Tyler Conklin is another extension candidate to keep an eye on.
Lastly, don't expect the Vikings to use all — or even most — of their $14 million in cap space this year. Whatever isn't spent can be rolled over to 2022, when the salary cap could be as high as $208 million. That's the ceiling the NFL set recently, and that would be a massive jump from this year's $182.5 million cap.
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