Vikings Finally Lock Up Entire 2026 Draft Class

The last remaining holdout of the Vikings 2026 draft class has officially signed, with the team agreeing to terms with second-round pick Jake Golday on Tuesday. The linebacker was the last of the team's nine picks from the 2026 draft class to sign his rookie contract.

No terms of the deal were announced but we do know, due to the CBA's rookie wage scale, that Golday's deal will be a four-year contract for around $9.6 million. While the length and value of the deal were non-negotiable due to the CBA, there are limited points rookies can negotiate as part of their rookie contract, primarily the amount of guaranteed money.

While the general practice has been that teams fully guarantee the entirety of first-round picks' contracts, the later rounds generally have only partially guaranteed contracts. The growing trend has seen a certain proportion of second-round picks have negotiated full guarantees, with the first eight picks of the second round getting fully guaranteed deals last year.

It's not clear whether Golday, the 19th pick in this year's second round, earned a fully guaranteed contract, but the Green Bay Packers fully guaranteed three years of the deal for cornerback Brandon Cisse, who was selected one pick after Golday.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, cornerback D'Angelo Ponds, who was selected one pick before Golday, signed a rookie deal with the Jets that guarantees $8.946 million of his $9.836 million contract.

Golday recorded 163 total tackles, 5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovery in two seasons at Cincinnati.

Minnesota inked the other eight members of their 2026 draft class ahead of the team's rookie minicamp. First-round pick Caleb Banks inked a four-year $21.282 million deal, with a team option for the fifth year. The fifth-year option must be picked up ahead of the player's fourth NFL season.

Golday took part in the team's rookie minicamp and will now get set to for the rest of the team's offseason workout program. Next up for the Vikings are OTA offseason workouts, which are set to take place on May 26, 27, 29, and June 1 and 2, before the team returns to TCO Performance Center for mandatory minicamp June 9-11.

Full dates haven't been announced yet, but the Vikings will host training camp at TCO Performance Center, presumably beginning in late-July. The Vikings announced on Monday they will host the Baltimore Ravens for joint training camp practices on Wednesday, August 19 and Thursday, August 20 before a preseason game on Saturday, August 22 at U.S. Bank Stadium.

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