Free agency for the Minnesota Vikings brought a lot of significant change across the board. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah did an excellent job in identifying needs and attacking them relentlessly. They even navigated around the compensatory formula, which has them in a great position for the future.
One of those elements where the Vikings are still in a good spot is the salary cap. Adofo-Mensah has spent the last three years getting the salary cap in a healthy spot. The latest update has changed things and it's really interesting.
Byron Murphy Jr.'s salary cap hit changed
One of the interesting things about the Vikings' salary cap situation is the contract of cornerback Byron Murphy. He signed a three-year deal worth up to $66 million, which was announced on the first day of the legal tampering period.
What's fascinating about Murphy's deal is that he now has dead money in 2025, according to Over The Cap. He's got a dead cap hit of $4.2 million, which is what it would have been if he left the Vikings.
This is where things get interesting. The Vikings moved back the void date of Murphy from February 17th to the day before the new league year was set to begin, which would have kept just $1.4 million in 2025 instead of the full $4.2 million. Why would the Vikings choose to do this?
Likely, it's one of two things:
- The Vikings didn't get Murphy to put pen to paper in time
- Adofo-Mensah chose to take the cap hit now instead of in the future
The former makes the most sense for one main reason: taking the cap hit now goes against what Adofo-Mensah normally does. Pushing money down the line is essentially an interest free loan. Taking it all now doesn't make a lot of sense.
Whatever the reason, the Vikings now sit with a projected $17,121,238 in salary cap space.
