Vikings Leadership Talks Jonathan Greenard, Harrison Smith Uncertainty

As Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell and acting general manager Rob Brzezinski addressed the media on the first day of the team's offseason program on Monday, the uncertain futures of two of the team's key defenders were among the topics that came up.

Edge rusher Jonathan Greenard, a 2024 Pro Bowler who is arguably the Vikings' best defensive player, still has two years left on his contract. But reports have indicated Greenard wants a raise that better reflects his value, which has led to significant trade speculation. Meanwhile, safety Harrison Smith still hasn't determined — or at least announced — if he's going to play a 15th NFL season or enter retirement.

Greenard did not report to the Vikings' facility on Monday along with many of his teammates, including the face of the franchise in Justin Jefferson. This portion of the offseason is voluntary, although O'Connell noted that the Vikings have had "historically really, really great participation," before saying "I understand the things that come up from a business standpoint."

"I had a conversation with him last week," O'Connell said of Greenard. "We're trying to keep our conversations and dialogue going. I have such a good relationship with Jonathan, he's been so impactful on me personally. One of our leaders. He knows exactly how I feel about him, how we feel about him as an organization. It's been good, and I think Jonathan's really respected at least the point of view that our dialogue brings, and the clarity, and he knows that I'm always a phone call away."

Jonathan Greenard | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Greenard is set to make $18.4 million in base salary in each of the next two seasons, which is a team-friendly number given his production when he's been healthy over the last two years. Because of the Vikings' cap situation, they may not necessarily want to give Greenard a raise. But they also won't want to trade him unless they get significant value back. A new report from ESPN's Adam Schefter on Monday suggested talks between the Vikings and Eagles around Greenard could pick back up during the draft this weekend.

A trade that brings in at least an additional second-round pick could make some sense for the Vikings, who have plenty of needs to fill and an ascending third-year edge rusher in Dallas Turner. At the same time, do they really want to trade a star pass rusher in a year where the goal is to get back to the playoffs?

"JG's a great player," Brzezinski said. "I expect JG to be here. It's like, there's all this speculation, there's been speculation. There's conversations that take place, with respect to players, all the time. And for some reason, sometimes some things get public and other times they don't. But he's a really good player and a special person and a leader, and we're really happy he's a part of our team."

Unlike Greenard, Smith is not currently under contract with the Vikings; he was released in a procedural move in March. The assumption has been that he's going to call it a career after he received an emotional send-off in the final game of the 2025 regular season. But nothing has been announced on that front, which feels notable. There's no question that if the potential future Hall of Famer decides he does want to play a 15th NFL season, it'll be with the only team he's ever known.

O'Connell didn't have an update on Smith's future on Monday.

"It's been a few days (since we talked), but now that you remind me, I'll probably bug him today," O'Connell said with a grin. "No, we're still trying to give Harrison as much space as possible. I think he's earned that. If it's anything at this point, it's seeing how he's doing, seeing how his family is, seeing how his golf game is, all of those things."

In theory, it feels like it might be helpful for the Vikings to have a decision from Smith before the draft begins this week. O'Connell said he doesn't think that's necessary or that Smith's status will impact their draft plans at all.

"No, I don't think so. The most important thing is getting your board stacked with how we see 'em, and that's a combination of the evaluations from a lot of different people. Obviously, you want to have conversations about, with each and every selection, how that impacts your depth chart, your 53-man roster. But no, it doesn't."

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