Minnesota Cornerback Deal Looks Even Better

Although the Minnesota Vikings did not do much with their time on Monday during the legal tampering period, they put a nice bow on the day by bringing back cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. As other cornerbacks flew off the board, it seemed important to the Vikings that they retain their talent.

All three of Minnesota’s starting cornerbacks from Brian Flores’ defense last year hit the open market. Stephon Gilmore and Shaq Griffin have not yet appeared to be priorities to retain. However, that wasn’t the case for Byron Murphy Jr.

Minnesota was able to work out a nice raise for Murphy Jr.. And, they did so in a way that continues to give them roster flexibility.

Byron Murphy Jr.’s deal works out well for Minnesota Vikings

Of course when a deal is first announced agents will always highlight the gaudy numbers of a contract. Byron Murphy Jr.’s three-year deal is worth $66 million, and that $22 million average would make him the third highest-paid cornerback in the NFL. But, that isn’t how they structured the deal.

As was the case with defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, Byron Murphy Jr.’s deal helps the Vikings cap flexibility out immensely. The construction of the deal includes void years that reduce cap hits in both 2026 and 2027. The outlay also translates to $18 million annually, which only ranks him 14th amongst cornerbacks. The details of this contract per overthecap.com.

Related: Minnesota Vikings Free Agency Signings – 2025

The total guaranteed money for Murphy Jr. comes out to $34.78 million. Good for Murphy, as that is more than twice the amount he was paid on his previous two-year deal by Minnesota. After calculating the cap hits for officially announced acquisitions, Minnesota still has roughly $50 million in spending power. They won’t have that much once the Javon Hargrave deal hits, however.

If the Vikings were to move on from Murphy Jr. after the first two years of the deal, they would be left with $10.8 million in dead cap. His hit is $21.6 million in 2027, so there is a still a sizable savings if they choose to go a different direction then.

As Star Tribune MN Vikings reporter Ben Goessling suggested, Minnesota’s Rob Brzezinski is “running a master class” when it comes to cap manipulation. The Vikings are, of course, in this position because they stopped short of offering a sizable deal to Sam Darnold. Instead, he signed with the Seahawks.

A couple of the free agents Minnesota has grabbed are on the older side. However, signing these players to longer-term deals, the Vikings can allow for their eventual replacements to learn under them and develop. It’s a strategy that jives with general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s desire to push for a competitive rebuild and take multiple swings at a Super Bowl.

MN Vikings not done shopping

Even if the Minnesota Vikings were throwing cash around unintelligently, they’d still have enough space left in the salary cap to continue making moves. Which gives Adofo-Mensah plenty of options to sort through.

J.J. McCarthy is still the only rostered quarterback. And he remains the future, but the room will certainly need a backup. There’s also a decent possibility that another safety or cornerback addition is coming to add some depth.

Related: Vikings’ New Free Agent Deal Just Got Sweeter

What we saw early on in this process is that Minnesota knows what they are doing, and remained patient when attacking their goal. Plenty of the heavy lifting has taken place, and now they will continue exploring ways to improve.

The Vikings have limited draft capital in April, and the greatest way to mitigate that is with both an aggressive and successful run through free agency. So far that looks pretty damn good.