NFL insider says Vikings ‘eager to move big contracts’

Free agency is right around the corner, and the Minnesota Vikings have some in-house cleaning to do if they hope to be in a position to make other moves now and in the future.

With the team sitting at roughly $15 million over the salary cap, there are some serious concerns of what things will look like in 2022. NFL insider Jason La Canfora is reporting the Vikings could be looking to “reset their cap.”

“Continue to hear from NFL execs that the [Vikings] are eager to move big contracts and reset their cap/payroll,” La Canfora posted on social media. “A Kirk Cousins trade would not surprise me at this point. Still plenty of needy teams. QB would need QB to extend contract. Stay tuned.”

Obviously, it would be huge if Cousins would agree to a pay cut to help alleviate the stress from a $45 million cap hit, but early indications are looking pretty grim on that front. A trade could be imminent if no deal comes to fruition.

It also makes you wonder if Vikings first-year general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah would consider moving on from players like Danielle Hunter, Adam Thielen, Harrison Smith, Dalvin Cook or Eric Kendricks to create more space.

The whole idea of a “cap reset” may not sit well with everyone considering the situation in Minnesota was seen more as a mild remodeling than a rebuild. Of course, it’s hard to make sense of a mild remodeling when the team is dealing with serious cap issues right now.

So far, Adofo-Mensah has said and done all of the right things, but the hardest part of the job is yet to come. This is the time when he’s going to have to roll up his sleeves and make some tough decisions for the team that some fans may not like.

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