Vikings' Quiet Start to Free Agency is No Surprise or Reason to Panic

Over 100 NFL players agreed to terms on new contracts on Monday after the legal tampering period of free agency began. More deals have trickled in over the course of the day on Tuesday.

While some teams have already spent like crazy, others have done very little. The Vikings fall into the latter camp. As of about 5 p.m. central on Tuesday, 30 hours into free agency, Minnesota has signed veteran cornerback James Pierre and re-signed long snapper Andrew DePaola. So far, that's it.

While that might be disappointing to fans hoping for fireworks, it shouldn't be particularly surprising. It also shouldn't be cause for any real concern.

The teams that have been busiest in free agency so far are the Raiders, the Titans, and the Panthers. Two of those teams went 3-14 last season. The other, Carolina, hasn't had a winning record since 2017. All three have had the No. 1 pick within the last four years, and all three are in the bottom six in terms of total wins since the 2022 season.

In other words, these teams are spending a ton of money in free agency because their rosters desperately need an infusion of talent. The Vikings, whose 43 regular season wins in the last four years are tied for fifth-most in the league, have a roster that isn't littered with major holes.

Every year, many of the contracts teams hand out in the first wave of free agency are overpays that don't pan out. The Vikings just witnessed that with the deals they gave to Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave. Those moves were exciting at the time, but they didn't do much for Minnesota in the 2025 season. A year later, both defensive tackles are being released for salary cap savings.

Javon Hargrave | Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

If you're upset about the moves former Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah made to put the franchise in its current cap situation, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to now be bummed that interim GM Rob Brzezinski and company aren't going out and signing big-name free agents once more.

The two best moves the Vikings made in free agency last year weren't big splashes. The first was to sign Isaiah Rodgers to a two-year, $11 million deal. The second was to sign Eric Wilson to a one-year, $2.6 million deal. Sometimes huge contracts in free agency work out, but the value typically comes in the smaller deals for underrated depth players.

The Vikings hope they've found another such player in Pierre, who had a great 2025 season with the Steelers as a rotational cornerback. He has a history with new Vikings defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander and should be a nice fit in Brian Flores' scheme. He also plays a ton of special teams.

More moves of that ilk are coming. The Vikings could use a running back, a safety, a defensive tackle, and a center. They're also going to sign a quarterback at some point, with Kyler Murray looking like the far-and-away favorite.

It's not going to be a particularly exciting free agency period for Minnesota. And that's OK. What matters more for sustainable team-building is what Adofo-Mensah struggled with most, which is hitting on draft picks. Quarterback aside, what the Vikings do with their four top-100 selections in April is more important than anything they'll do this month in free agency.

Splashy moves this week are fun for the fans of the teams who make them. More often than not, though, doling out cash in March doesn't lead to a ton of success when the season rolls around.