Vikings Place Tender on ERFA Jalen Redmond, Extension Could Be Next

In the least surprising, most no-brainer news of the Vikings' entire offseason, they have placed an exclusive rights tender on defensive tackle Jalen Redmond, per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.

In the NFL, there are three different kinds of free agents. Players with at least four accrued seasons and an expired contract are unrestricted free agents, which are the most common. That accounts for all veteran players and former draft picks who just completed their four-year rookie deal (like Vikings wide receiver Jalen Nailor, for example).

Players with three accrued seasons and an expired contract are restricted free agents. Those are often former undrafted players, since they only get three-year rookie deals. The Vikings have two of those this year in linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. and tight end Ben Sims. With RFAs, teams can place one of a few different tenders on the player. They can then negotiate with other teams, but the original team can match any offer sheet and potentially earn draft compensation if the player leaves.

Then there are exclusive rights free agents, which are players with two or fewer accrued seasons and an expired contract. Those are fairly uncommon, and they're simple for teams to handle if they want to keep the player. All they have to do is tender them a one-year contract at the league minimum, and the player cannot negotiate with other teams.

With Redmond, the Vikings were always going to use the ERFA tender to keep him around. He was their best defensive tackle in 2025 despite sharing a room with big-name free agent pickups and former Pro Bowlers Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave. Redmond played nearly 800 defensive snaps and recorded 35 pressures, 12 tackles for loss, 6 sacks, and 5 passes defended. Among the 62 NFL DTs who played at least 500 snaps, Redmond's 72.7 PFF grade ranked 15th.

Jalen Redmond | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

But the Vikings likely won't stop at placing a one-year tender on Redmond, who would then be a restricted free agent next year. He's one of their key defensive players and a building block who turns 27 this month, so they should be inclined to get a multi-year contract extension worked out with him at some point this offseason. Such a deal could bake in the 2026 tender but also give Redmond more future guarantees as a reward for the way he played last season.

Redmond, who played collegiately at Oklahoma, went undrafted in 2023 and spent the offseason with the Panthers before ending up in the XFL with the Arlington Renegades. The Vikings then signed him in June 2024 in a move that has aged quite well. He appears set up to be an important part of Minnesota's defense for several years to come.

One of the lone positives from last night was the play of Jalen Redmond. PFF credited him with 9 pressures, which ties Tom Johnson for the single-game record for a Vikings defensive tackle in the PFF era (since 2006).

Redmond has been phenomenal this season. pic.twitter.com/3hFQkj3FqB
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) October 24, 2025