The Vikings managed to put together a few solid performances in 2025, but injuries and lackluster play at the quarterback position ultimately doomed a team just one year removed from racking up the second most regular-season wins in franchise history. Honestly, things were a bit lucky to go as well as they did–Minnesota finished on a five-game win streak thanks in large part to Brian Flores' blitz-happy defense wreaking havoc down the stretch.

• 2025: 9-8 (+11 point differential, preseason win total: 8.5)
• Points per game: 20.2 (26th)
• EPA per pass: -0.12 (28th)
• EPA per rush: -0.06 (15th)
• Points per game against: 19.6 (7th)
• EPA per pass against: -0.09 (2nd)
• EPA per rush against: -0.09 (14th)

Unfortunately, the Vikings might have to mostly just rely on the late-season good times continuing to roll into 2026, as this is the league's second-most expensive roster in terms of active cap spending ahead of next season. Accordingly, only the Chiefs have less cap space–the bulk of meaningful roster improvements will likely have to come through the team's four top-100 draft picks.

What do the Vikings Need to do Ahead of the 2026 NFL Season?

Need 1: Secondary

Longtime stud safety Harrison Smith is a free agent and will enter Week 1 at 37 years of age. Regardless of whether or not Smith is back: It's been a minute since Minnesota used anything resembling a high-end draft pick on the position. Sure, the team used a first-round pick on Lewis Cine back in 2022, but he played only 10 games with the franchise, and before that Smith himself (Round 1, 2012) was the last safety that the Vikings have used a top-three-round pick on!

Meanwhile at cornerback, the problem hasn't been a devotion of resources—Minnesota is actually one of just 13 teams spending at least $30 million on their corners ahead of 2026–but the overall performance simply hasn't been anything close to great in recent years.

• 2025: 57.4 PFF team coverage grade (18th)
• 2024: 67 (16th)
• 2023: 77.3 (16th)
• 2022: 71 (18th)
• 2021: 63.1 (18th)

Reclamation project Jeff Okudah didn't work out and joins Fabian Moreau as free agents. The Vikings could get out of their big-money deal with Byron Murphy after this season should his performance not improve. It might be time to get back to slinging some first-round dough at the position.

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Need 2: Quarterback

To say that J.J. McCarthy cost former FM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah his job may be extreme. What would not extreme is that McCarthy was anything resembling even a mid-level starting NFL QB last season. That has led to the organization entertaining getting some veteran competition for the young QB during the offseason.

And the hesitation to keep McCarthy in the starting job is understandable. While the artist known as "nine" played better down the stretch, McCarthy was still objectively one of the worst quarterbacks in the league last season.

• McCarthy was one of just eight quarterbacks to complete under 60% of his passes.
• His 60.1 PFF passing grade ranked 36th among 43 qualified QBs, just ahead of Geno Smith.
• McCarthy, Shedeur Sanders and Brady Cook were the NFL's only three signal-callers with a passer rating south of 75.

Even putting aside McCarthy's on-field performance for a second: The Michigan man has only been healthy enough to start 10 games over the last two seasons. At a minimum the team needs to have a better emergency plan than Max Brosmer, at a maximum it could make sense to add some real competition in the form of someone like Malik Willis, Marcus Mariota, or dare I say, Aaron Rodgers.

Need 3: Linebacker

This defense was had on more than a few occasions by opposing running backs in 2025:

• Bijan Robinson (22 rushes-143 yards-0 TD)
• Kimani Vidal (23-117-1)
• Quinshon Judkins (23-110-0)
• Emanuel Wilson (28-107-2)
• Kenneth Gainwell (19-99-2)
• Javonte Williams (15-91-1)

This is the league's ninth-cheapest linebacker room with Eric Wilson hitting free agency. Fellow starting inside backer Blake Cashman is entering the last year of his deal. Better performance against the run is needed regardless of whether or not the team simply rolls it back with the same crew in 2026.

Honorable mention

Tight end could become a need should T.J. Hockenson become a cap casualty; the team can save nearly $16 million against the cap with a post-June 1 release of the veteran. … No. 3 WR Jalen Nailor is hitting free agency, so extra depth will be needed should Kevin O'Connell and company not believe 2025 third-rounder Tai Felton is ready to start.

If I were GM …

I'd come away with two quality defensive backs before Day 3 of the draft and allocate a solid percentage of free agency spending to getting a backup quarterback–potentially Mariota. The veteran journeyman didn't exactly thrive with his second chance in Atlanta back in 2022, but Mariota does deserve credit for posting top-15 numbers in success rate, completion percentage over expected, and yards per attempt while filling in for Jayden Daniels last season.

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