Minnesota Vikings Slap Exclusive Rights Tender on Jalen Redmond

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Jalen Redmond - Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings’ No. 1 mission this offseason is figuring out who will start at quarterback. And No. 2 on that itinerary is finding out the next steps for JJ McCarthy.

It’s been difficult for fans, and probably some inside TCO Performance Center, to focus on anything other than QB. That’s natural, especially after we learned the hard way that, if you get it wrong at quarterback, nothing else really matters.

Minnesota Vikings place exclusive rights tender on Jalen Remond

Nonetheless, the offseason will go on no matter what the Minnesota Vikings do at the most important position in sports. And on Wednesday, we saw just that, when NFL insider Jeremy Fowler (ESPN) reported that the Vikings are placing the Exclusive Rights Tender on interior defensive lineman, Jalen Redmond.

What exactly does the ERFA tender mean for Redmond — who burst onto the scene in his second NFL season in 2025 with 62 tackles, 6 sacks, 12 TFL and 8 QB Hits in 15 starts (17 games) — and his future with the Minnesota Vikings?

It means that Redmond is now locked into a one-year minimum contract with the Vikings and cannot negotiate with other teams when free agency begins in a week. Historically, it’s also been a signal that the tagging team is interested in negotiating a long-term extension with said player — something that Fowler mentions in his tweet.

Related: Kyler Murray “Badly” Wants Vikings But Do They Really Want Him?

Last season, the soon-to-be 27-year-old former undrafted free agent turned UFL star turned Viking beat out two overpriced offseason signings on the interior d-line — Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave — quickly supplanting himself as Minnesota’s No. 1 defensive tackle.

To compliment his bullish numbers (above) over at Pro Football Reference, Jalen Redmond posted a 72.7 PFF grade (62.5 pass rush, 72.7 run defense) last season — grading better than Allen (53.2) and Hargrave (68.0),

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