Minnesota Vikings' Blueprint for Winning Free Agency

Free agency may always be a bit more overblown than necessary, especially for fans of the Minnesota Vikings, who have yet to see a star free-agent signing in the post-Brett Favre era. Nevertheless, there is a framework for a successful offseason, even if it yet again doesn’t mean a high-profile free agent.

The free-agency "Super Bowl," which opens on March 10, is sometimes the only thing fans have to celebrate in the doldrums of the offseason, but it’s true that key free-agent signings can set teams up for a strong run in the playoffs, just like the New England Patriots did with their stellar offseason, while the Seattle Seahawks did the same a year ago with key signings such as Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett.

At the same time, those who sign the most high-profile free agents are often the biggest disappointments. It’s not easy to forget the disappointments of the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles Dream Team or that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won free agency last year.

The Minnesota Vikings can strike a balance between extravagant and spendthrift and in doing so provide a path to “winning” free agency.

Cut Dead Weight

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The Minnesota Vikings are in a good spot from a cap-space perspective. According to Over The Cap.com, the Vikings have over $23 million in cap space, more than enough to get what they need to get done in free agency.

They can put themselves in an even better spot, too. Longtime Viking and former Pro Bowler Chad Greenway has lost more than a step and hasn't made up for it with the preternatural instinct and savvy that kept Ray Lewis' career going. By taking up $8.8 million in cap space, he's more than just a linebacker past his prime; he's a liability.

Though not all of that cap space can be recovered, the Vikings can still move above $30 million in cap space by cutting Greenway—who only has a $1.7 million dead-money charge if cut.

The Vikings should cut Jeff Locke and find another punter, either in free agency or in the last day of the draft—as a pick or undrafted free agent. Locke has been consistently poor as a punter, and despite playing better this year than last year, he still played the worst of any NFL punters while getting worse later in the season, per Pro Football Focus' player grades.

There isn't much that can be (or needs to be) done after that. It might be ideal to restructure both Brian Robison and Greg Jennings, who themselves take up $16.65 million in space, despite waning production.

Jennings is the team's leading receiver, and the Vikings don't have a clear answer at defensive end without Robison (without knowing the state of Scott Crichton's development), so cutting either isn't much of an option.

But reducing that $16.7 million to about $12 million seems possible, especially because cutting Brian Robison isn't entirely out of the question despite the fact that the dead space from such a move ($3 million) outpaces the net gains in cap space ($2.65 million).

The Vikings don't have an overwhelming amount of leverage with Jennings because they can't really threaten to cut him. That said, providing small extensions and guarantees can be bargaining chips to reduce the base salaries of both players and therefore their cap charges.

Trade Adrian Peterson

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Vikings fans may have gotten used to seeing Adrian Peterson in a suit rather than a uniform, and being that far removed from what he can do on the field makes it easier to let him go.

Peterson is a special athlete. Though he's 30 years old, there's reason to believe he can last longer than a typical running back.

That's illustrated by both the eye-popping medical fact that the utter lack of wear and tear on Peterson's joints awed his extremely experienced sports surgeon James Andrews, and his stunning recovery from surgery provides evidence that Peterson is more than a typical running back aging curve, especially as he hasn't shown signs of decline thus far in his career.

With all that said, the Vikings need to find a way to offload him and find trade value in the process. There are very likely other teams around the league that not only believe the running game's importance, but also Peterson's unique capabilities. Thus, they can provide Minnesota with compensation that matches the strength of that belief.

Minnesota is unlikely to make a serious run at the Lombardi trophy within Peterson's window as an elite back, and it serves the Vikings better to find the value they can in him now instead of later when he wouldn't provide any trade value at all.

Replacing Peterson isn't necessarily easy, but even if the Vikings can't find a running back who can grab 4.5 yards a carry on a consistent basis, finding one who can get more than 4.0 isn't too hard, especially because they already have one on the roster in Jerick McKinnon.

It's generally unwise to have a player on the roster who is openly hostile to the organization, especially when that player is a team leader. While Peterson's anger with the executives within the Vikings group may be justifiable, the kind of resentment it can stir up is not good for a football team.

Beyond that, there's the possibility, however remote, that Peterson may refuse to play for the team out of principle. His anger toward the Vikings seems genuine, and Peterson can easily be the kind of person who would sacrifice financial gain in order to make a larger moral point.

That there's a good chance he wouldn't run as well for a team he's uncomfortable with compared to an environment he'd be welcomed in is all the more reason Peterson should be traded while the Vikings can grab value.

Sign In-House Free Agents

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The Vikings are lucky enough this year that they don't have high-profile free agents hitting the market, and therefore, they don't have to worry about free agents leveraging the market against their internal value like they did with Everson Griffen.

Even though Griffen turned out to be well worth his contract, it's good to have a year where the Vikings can save space to put together team-friendly deals for next year's expiring contracts, like Harrison Smith, Josh Robinson, Rhett Ellison and Matt Kalil (if he turns it around).

But the Vikings still need to close a deal with Tom Johnson, who served the Vikings as a rotational defensive tackle who for much of the year actually played as the best DT in the rotation.

That kind of depth is extremely valuable. Even if the Vikings had the best defensive line in the NFL, all those players would need to be rotated out at some point. The ability to generate pressure even in those situations is something every team needs, but not every team has it. Johnson has that ability and will again for not too much of a financial investment.

The Vikings Jasper Brinkley had an underrated season and played reasonably well in a two-down role in his second stint with the team—far better than he did two years ago. Even if he isn't ideal as a starter going down the road, he's certainly a good backup linebacker on a team that doesn't have too many answers at the position. If he can be re-signed cheaply, it's a good deal for the Vikings.

Sign Insurance Policies at Uncertain Positions

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The Vikings seem to have faith that Matt Kalil will recover and capture his rookie form. There's a reasonable chance that Robison or Scott Crichton can provide better play at the left defensive end spot. Captain Munnerlyn is unlikely to repeat "one of his worst years" in his career.

That may all bear out, but the Vikings would be fools not to find cheap backups at those positions who have a reasonable chance to start.

At tackle, good backup options exist in players such as veterans Eric Winston and Corey Hilliard or in younger players such as former Green Bay Packers tackle Don Barclay (a restricted free agent) or former New York Jets tackle Ben Ijalana. Former Buffalo Bill Chris Hairston can provide more than reasonable depth, too. They all provide better options than current backup Mike Harris and would cost less than $1 million to sign.

The Vikings may want to look for their long-term defensive end in the draft if their internal evaluation team determines that Crichton doesn't have what it takes to earn the spot, but that may be a year down the road. In the meantime, forcing him, Robison (if he takes a pay cut) and another player to compete for that spot wouldn't be bad, especially as it provides depth even if it doesn't work out.

That doesn't have to mean starting quality players such as Jerry Hughes, Brandon Graham, Brian Orakpo or Pernell McPhee. It could instead mean a veteran one-year rental such as Osi Umenyiora, former Vikings camp attendee George Johnson or George Selvie.

It wouldn't be bad to grab a young player in need of a new environment either, such as Adrian Clayborn, Da'Quan Bowers (who could back up at tackle as well) or restricted free agent Derrick Shelby.

At cornerback, a player who knows what he's doing is always nice. Veterans Alan Ball, Patrick Robinson and Walter Thurmond have all shown that, along with an ability to play in the slot. If not them, then young players like Chimdi Chekwa, Josh Thomas and Mike Harris (the cornerback) have shown promise but haven't held down a long-term starting position.

Grab High-Value Upgrades at Key Positions

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After cutting their starting guard, rotating the corps of safeties next to Harrison Smith and struggling at various linebacker spots, the Vikings know they need starters there, and high-value starters will be easier to find if they can cut dead weight and trade Peterson.

Freeing up to $50 million in space before spending about $6 million on re-signings and depth should give the Vikings the flexibility they need to grab true talent. Though there's reason to be skeptical of Mike Iupati or Orlando Franklin, signing guards Clint Boling, Ronald Leary or recently cut Justin Blalock would give the Vikings an immense talent upgrade next to Matt Kalil without breaking the bank.

At safety, the best possible value the Vikings could get is in McCourty. The safety market may be unfairly depressed after Jairus Byrd started flopping for the New Orleans Saints as their big signing. With the draft weak at safety and the league thin at the position, going big may be the best chance the Vikings have to secure the position. McCourty is young, too, which provides a long-term solution.

If Cleveland somehow doesn't make Tashaun Gipson too expensive (he's a restricted free agent), he would be an astonishing signing at safety as well. The same is true of Will Hill and Baltimore.

Da'Norris Searcy would not be as great a fit as he's more of a strong safety, but there's workable talent there, especially if Harrison Smith goes back to covering the deep middle.

There isn't a ton of safety talent out there (maybe Louis Delmas?), but the Vikings should have the cap room and negotiating power to swing around to get one if they really want to.

At linebacker, two-down options like Brandon Spikes exist, and Spikes himself would be an excellent signing. Rolando McClain on an incentive-laden deal wouldn't be bad either, as head coach Mike Zimmer may be able to unlock the kind of potential that Dallas did, even though McClain carries his own injury worries with him.

Akeem Ayers can start at the "Will" linebacker spot for the Vikings, despite being miscast as an edge player when he was in Tennessee, and both Geno Hayes and Justin Durant are worth exploring to start at one of the linebacker spots, while the Vikings fill the other in the draft.

All of this should leave the Vikings with enough cap room to sign their rookies from the draft as well as begin to lock down the free agents who may be departing in 2016 to long-term deals.