Vikings’ Offseason Plan, Part 3: Team Needs

In Part 1 of this series, we looked at how the Vikings can create enough salary cap space to operate in 2026. In Part 2, we looked at which of their various free agents the Vikings should bring back. With those decisions in mind, we will now look at what needs the team has heading into the offseason.

Obviously, the 2025 season did not go as planned for the Minnesota Vikings. Coming off a 14-3 season, going 9-8 and missing the playoffs was below the standard the team expected to reach.

QB issues were the main driver of the team’s regression, but that can’t be the only focus this offseason. Interim GM Rob Brzezinski and staff will evaluate the entire roster, including impending free agents, and see what they can do to put out a better team in 2026.

Let’s take a look at each position group for the Vikings and categorize it by level of need as free agency approaches. Some of the team’s needs will be personnel-based, as they will have to replace impending free agents. Others will be improvement-based, where they simply need to get better at the position than they were in 2025.

Of course, there are layers to each need: some positions simply require depth additions, while others require starters, which cost more.

To help us determine team needs, I’ve listed all Vikings players for 2025 and color-coded those who are free agents and those who might be cut. Let’s dive in.

Assuming Harrison Smith retires, the Vikings are losing their second-biggest snap-taker at safety. Josh Metellus is a very good player, but he is at his best when the Vikings have three safeties on the field, as it frees him up to play a more versatile role.

With Theo Jackson disappointing after being asked to assume a larger role, and eventually losing his job, the Vikings don’t have anyone besides Metellus that I feel good about at safety.

Jay Ward did get run toward the end of the season, playing 128 snaps over the final three games, but I thought his best work was when he played outside CB and was asked to tackle in the flat — not exactly a glowing endorsement for his ability within this role.

If they want to maximize Metellus, the Vikings might need to add two playable safeties to the roster. At a minimum, they should add one, which could be Smith returning for yet another season. While it wouldn’t shock me if the Vikings did little at the position — Brian Flores has been incredible at cobbling together an elite pass defense with limited pieces in the secondary — it would be a lot more reassuring if they bolstered their safety room this offseason.

In free agency, the safety market is pretty robust. There are 18 players who played 50% or more of their teams’ snaps. I don’t love all of them, but teams like the Vikings should be able to find starting-caliber talent.

Even moreso than safety, the Vikings have gotten by with limited talent in the CB room for three seasons under Flores. They are scheduled to retain their top two CBs, Byron Murphy and Isaiah Rodgers, but I view Rodgers as a third CB.

Fabian Moreau and Jeff Okudah, who ranked third and fourth in snaps at CB, respectively, are both projected to become free agents. Neither was a high-level player, but the Vikings kept their remaining depth in Dwight McGlothern and Zemaiah Vaughn off the field for the 31-year-old Moreau, who didn’t sign until midseason.

Murphy is an excellent CB and works as the team’s top corner. However, the team needs to find a solution that can challenge Rodgers across from him. Maybe that comes in the form of re-signing Moreau, or development from McGlothern or Vaughn.

That would be a stopgap solution at best, and I’d rather try to solve the position once and for all than keep duct-taping it together. That solution can come in the form of an early draft pick or a free agent, but the team should try to make it happen.

To me, the CB market doesn’t have as many clear starters as the safety market does, but there are several players with experience. I could see the team pursuing a few of the available names, but a high draft pick might be the best way to address this need.