Is this what the ultimate Vikings offense looks like in 2025?

Go on a journey with us into the future, where Sam Darnold is navigating free agency in March and the Vikings are in the same waters attempting to use nearly $70 million in cap space to build around quarterback J.J. McCarthy.

Minnesota could give Darnold a chunk of that cap space, but in this hypothetical they're electing to move on from Darnold and hand the reins of Kevin O'Connell's offense to McCarthy. His knee will be healed and he'll be surrounded by one of the best offensive supporting casts on the planet, making his transition to the NFL as smooth as any first-year starting quarterback in league history.

What does the offense around McCarthy look like in 2025? You can rest assured that Minnesota will be backing up the Brinks truck for offensive line upgrades. That's bad news for starting guards Blake Brandel and Dalton Risner, and might not be good news for starting center Garrett Bradbury.

Let's build the perfect Vikings offense for 2025 by using about $41 million of Minnesota's projected $69.5 million in cap space.

Quarterback: J.J. McCarthy, Daniel Jones

McCarthy gets his shot after recovering from the torn meniscus in his right knee. He spent his entire rookie season learning O'Connell's offense and now he's healthy and ready to lead the franchise as a 22-year-old. Daniel Jones re-signs with Minnesota to be the backup.

Will Ragatz's take: Joe and I are in agreement here. Darnold had a great season, but after the way it ended, it's time to enter the McCarthy era.

Offensive line: Christian Darrisaw, Teven Jenkins, Garrett Bradbury, Trey Smith, Brian O'Neill

Ideally, the Vikings would sign the top two free-agent guards to add Trey Smith and Will Fries up front, but getting both might be too good to be true. In this case, they pony up for Smith at right guard, who is ranked by most as the top free-agent guard, and they target Chicago free agent Teven Jenkins to play left guard. Among guards this season, Smith ranked 11th overall by PFF and Jenkins was 15th.

Chicago could very well sign Jenkins before he gets to free agency, but this is our hypothetical so we get to do what we want.

PFF, by the way, projects Smith to get $20.5 million annually while Jenkins's price tag is predicted to be $13.3 million per season. Combined, they eat up about $34 million of Minnesota's $69.5 million in cap space.

Will's take: I'm on board with this plan. Smith is a beast. The Vikings could also theoretically go after an upgrade at center in the Colts' Ryan Kelly, then re-sign Risner at one of the guard spots for fairly cheap.

Tight end: T.J. Hockenson, Josh Oliver

Hockenson scored his first touchdown of the season in the playoff loss to the Rams, but he'll be well beyond recovery mode from his Christmas Eve 2023 ACL injury and back to full strength for the Vikings in 2025. Oliver is under contract for one more year, so this is a position of stability.

Will's take: No question marks here.

Wide receiver: Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Jalen Nailor, Trent Sherfield

The Vikings might have to allocate money for needs on defense since they could be losing up to eight key contributors on that side of the ball, so the the best path forward in the WR room is keeping things stable. Sherfield could be had for cheap, while Jefferson, Addison and Nailor are all under contract.

Will's take: This is another position group that doesn't need much work. Nailor had a few drops this season, but he's good enough to remain the WR3 in a contract year. Sherfield would be nice to bring back for special teams and blocking reasons. It'll be worth using a Day 3 pick on a receiver who could be a Nailor replacement in 2026.

Running back: Aaron Jones, draft pick, Ty Chandler

This is where the NFL draft comes into play and Minnesota uses the 24th selection to find their version of Detroit's Jahmyr Gibbs. While Boise State's Ashton Jeanty would be a dream scenario falling to 24, the more likely pick would be Iowa's Kaleb Johnson or North Carolina's Omarion Hampton. Either way, the Vikings would have a really solid rookie to pair with Aaron Jones, who returns to Minnesota on a one- or two-year deal worth a PFF estimated $7 million annually.

Will's take: I think if the Vikings are going to draft a running back fairly early, they should move on from the aging Jones and bring back Cam Akers instead to save a little money. Also, I'm not sure how I feel about going with a non-Jeanty running back in the first round. If the Vikings truly believe Johnson or Hampton can be a Gibbs-type player, then go for it, but you can often find talented running backs in rounds 2-5 as well.

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