Vikings Urged to Make ‘Overdue’ Decision on Veteran Pro Bowler

As training camp draws near, the Minnesota Vikings stand as a team with few question marks on their roster, though they have a looming decision to make on two-time Pro Bowler and starting right tackle Brian O’Neill.

A second-round pick by the Vikings in 2018 (No. 62 overall), O’Neill has manned the right side since Week 6 of his rookie season.

He has started at least 14 games in every season since then.

“O’Neill has been one of the league’s best right tackles. According to Football Focus, he allowed two sacks while on the field for 664 pass-blocking snaps,” Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton wrote on June 21. “The eighth-year veteran tackle is coming off his second Pro Bowl season, and he has no guaranteed money left on his contract. He signed an extension in 2021 and is overdue for another.”

Moton listed O’Neill as the Vikings’ “most important contract extension” decision ahead of the 2025 campaign. Per Over The Cap, the Vikings have $18.3 million in space, and an extension for O’Neill would free up just under $13 million more.

He is entering Year 4 of a five-year, $92.5 million contract. The Vikings have $18.4 million in space as of June 22, according to OTC.

Brian O’Neill 1 of 2 Potential Locks to Retain Starting Job

O’Neill earned the second-highest run and pass blocking grades among Vikings’ offensive linemen, per Pro Football Focus, behind only left tackle Christian Darrisaw, who is recovering from a torn ACL suffered in Week 8.

Darrisaw and O’Neill could be the only two returning starters for the Vikings up front.

The Vikings handed out the second-most total cap dollars and guaranteed money in free agency this offseason, per OTC.

Much of their efforts focused on their lines, including on offense, where former Indianapolis Colts trench protectors Ryan Kelly and Will Fries will take over at center and right guard, respectively, this season.

At left guard, 2024 starter Blake Brandel must fend off 2025 first-round pick Donovan Jackson.

The No. 24 overall selection of the class, Jackson, was a force for the 2025 national champion Ohio State Buckeyes last season.

“You know why I really like this pick? He’s going to be a solid 10-year starter,” an anonymous NFL coordinator told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler in comments published on June 17. “Not sure he’s elite, but he will make a few Pro Bowls and be a really good player for a long time.”

With Darrisaw and O’Neill bookending the newcomers, the Vikings’ O-line appears improved.

Vikings Need O-Line to Take Step Forward in 2025

The Vikings need O’Neill and Co. to take to their changes, and form a unit that can both keep second-year quarterback (but first-year starter) J.J. McCarthy upright and create lanes in the running game.

They tied for the sixth-most sacks allowed and the fifth-fewest yards before contact per attempt during the 2024 regular season.

Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell suggested they could lean on the run game more.

The Vikings ranked 19th in rushing yards on the 14th-most attempts, so more volume could help O’Neill and the offensive line get into a better rhythm. That would take pressure off McCarthy as he grows into his role as the Vikings’ QB1.