It looks like Kwesi & Co plan to keep Thielen around through Cousins’ new extension (2023). The restructure, according to Ben Goessling – Star Tribune, also attaches a 2025 void year, to help bring Thielen’s 2022 and 2023 cap hits down. It looks like they’ll save $5-6 million against the cap this season. This blog will be updated as more details come out.

.@athielen19 has restructured his contract and is here to stay in Minnesota! Time to hit the ground running ????@vikings | #TeamIFA pic.twitter.com/QfQC87Yb8t

— Team IFA (@TeamIFA) March 18, 2022

Sounds like Adam Thielen's new deal includes a 2025 void year that will help reduce his cap number this season. Thielen got a signing bonus in the new deal and a bump in his 2022 base salary.

— Ben Goessling (@BenGoessling) March 18, 2022

The deal gives the #Vikings time to keep Thielen together with Kirk Cousins and should reduce his 2023 cap number, which was scheduled to be $17.95 million.

— Ben Goessling (@BenGoessling) March 18, 2022

The move to keep Thielen was important because for everyone on the offense. Kirk Cousins loves to look for Thielen when in scoring range, hitting him for 24 touchdowns in the last two seasons. So, the QB now get his favorite red zone target back.

Adam Thielen posted 726 yards and 10 touchdowns on 67 receptions in 2022. With Kevin O’Connell taking over as head coach, I’d take the over on those totals in 2023, as long as health isn’t a detriment. And let’s not forget what Adam has done to help the rapid growth process of Justin Jefferson over the last two years.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Kirk Cousins is coming back, Michael Pierce got swapped out for a younger, less-proven defensive tackle, we picked up another captain-type MLB and, thank the football gods, (P) Jordan Berry got a new deal. But on Thursday morning, the Vikings front office finally flipped a cap-saving rock we’d been waiting for by restructured Harrison Smith’s contract, converting a portion of his salary into a signing bonus, freeing up $6 million in cap space.

Other teams creating cap space with contract restructures:

Vikings: $6M via Harrison Smith’s deal

Bills: $5.172M via Matt Milano’s deal

Titans: $6.456M via Zach Cunningham’s deal

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 17, 2022

Danielle Hunter Trade Incoming?

This move doesn’t allow the Vikings to do anything outside of what they’ve already done. They can now fit their Phillips and Berry contracts under the salary cap. We’ll see if they move to trigger these same types of cap-saving moves with others who could help, including Adam Thielen, Dalvin Cook and Eric Kendricks.

But the real domino that has yet to fall is Danielle Hunter. On March 20, Hunter’s contract becomes guaranteed for 2022 and he’s due an $18.5 million roster bonus. They can convert that to a signing bonus and save $13 million against the cap. The other option is to trade him, which the Minnesota Vikings have reportedly been heavily exploring.

As the #Vikings try to sort out their cap situation, sources continue to say they've been trying to trade Danielle Hunter, who's got an $18 million roster bonus due on Sunday.

Hunter has a $25.83M cap figure. The Vikings need to clear space to make their new deals official.

— Ben Goessling (@BenGoessling) March 17, 2022

The Vikings have three more days to decide what to do with Danielle Hunter before he's due $18 million. Both a trade and a re-structured contract remain options.

— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) March 17, 2022

What’s taking so long?

The new Minnesota Vikings front office is either (a) showing an uncomfortable amount of patience that will soon reveal its brilliance to common folk like me or (b) acting with a concerning lack of decisiveness. I’m leaning toward the latter.

It’s possible that their desperate push for decision-making inclusiveness and corroboration is leading to indecisiveness. Does Kwesi have to decision-making hammer? Do the Wilfs? There’s a reason why “too many chefs in the kitchen” is such a well-know cliché.

Stay tuned…

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

After parting ways with Riley Reiff and Kyle Rudolph last week in salary cap saving measures, the Minnesota Vikings turned their attention toward Anthony Barr and his bloated contract. Well, talks are apparently well underway on Sunday night and it looks like Barr will stay in purple and gold for at least one more season… but at a reduced rate.

The Minnesota Vikings and LB Anthony Barr are working on a restructured contract that reduces his $12.3M salary but makes him a free agent in 2022, per sources. This helps Minnesota’s cap while getting Barr — who had three years left on his deal – two years closer to free agency

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) March 14, 2021

This would make sense for both sides. Free agency is going to be a completely different animal next year, as the league and players cash in on a new TV deal and start their financial recovery post-pandemic. Allowing Barr to play out one guaranteed season at a lower cap hit before hitting the open market on his own terms, is a win/win for all parties.

Now we just have to wait for the two sides to finish negotiation when we’ll find out how much salary cap cash Rick and Rob are saving. We’ll keep you posted.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota Vikings were out of salary cap space, after trading for Yannick Ngakoue over the weekend. To balance the books, Rick Spielman decided on a very risky but calculated ultimatum. Riley Reiff would need to restructure his salary (take a pay cut) if he wanted to stay on the roster for the 2020 season.

Slick Rick’s risky business paid off today, when Riley Reiff begrudgingly accepted the Vikings’ offer, after 2 days of painful soul searching (or trade searching).

The Vikings and starting LT Riley Reiff are closing in on a restructured contract to stay with the team, per league source.

Minnesota keeps its stalwart offensive tackle.

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 1, 2020

The #Vikings are finalizing a restructured contract with left tackle Riley Reiff, sources tell me and @RapSheet. One day after Reiff was offered a pay cut and said goodbye to teammates, he’s back and the O-line stays intact.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 1, 2020

This was absolutely best-case scenario for the Minnesota Vikings. We are yet to hear how much relief they will get from this restructure. Even if it is minimal, it’s necessary. The Vikings currently sit $600K in the red, after balancing their salary cap checkbook, according to spotrac.com.

As I anxiously detailed yesterday, the Minnesota Vikings need Riley Reiff just as much as he needs them, if they want to compete for a Super Bowl. Even with Reiff holding down the left edge of the offensive line, it’s still one of the biggest weak spots on the team.

Kirk Cousins and Dalvin Cook are just as happy as Rick Spielman, this afternoon.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan