Inside The Vikings

Some notable contract details for Vikings' Christian Darrisaw, J.J. McCarthy

The structure of Darrisaw's contract is fairly interesting.
Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw at an offseason practice.
Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw at an offseason practice. | Images Courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

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Let's take a look at the details and structure of Christian Darrisaw's four-year contract extension, which was reported as being worth up to $113 million (breakdowns courtesy of Spotrac and OverTheCap).

Really, it's a four-year extension with $104 million in new money, of which $77.5 million is guaranteed. He got $43.725 million fully guaranteed at signing, which includes his $18 million signing bonus and a $22.25 million option bonus. Another $15 million becomes guaranteed next March, then another $8.375 million in both March 2026 and March 2027. Darrisaw also has $8.25 million in total roster and workout bonuses, plus a total of $9 million available in incentives from 2026-2029 based on playing time, Pro Bowl, and All-Pro nods.

It's an advantageous deal for the Vikings because they were able to extend Darrisaw while he still had two years left on his rookie contract. He's now under contract for the next six seasons with the following cap hits:

* 2024: $6.4M
* 2025: $10.5M
* 2026: $23.1M
* 2027: $24.8M
* 2028: $31M
* 2029: $28.4M

Darrisaw's 2025 cap hit, which was previously around $16 million on his fifth-year option, actually went down with the way this deal was structured. By the time his biggest cap hits roll around in 2028 and 2029, the Vikings could potentially extend him again to lower those numbers. Assuming the cap continues increasing year over year, those figures may not even be that expensive for a player of his caliber.

McCarthy gets signing bonus up front

The Vikings agreed to pay all of J.J. McCarthy's $12.7 million rookie signing bonus up front, according to The Star Tribune's Ben Goessling. Whether or not that would happen might've been the reason why McCarthy was one of the last rookies to sign his deal this year. Dallas Turner will get roughly two-thirds of his $8.3 million bonus next week and the rest next March.


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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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