The Minnesota Vikings have almost $36 million in salary cap deficits to clear in 2026, and with the playoffs out of the picture, the team is likely already planning how most effectively to trim the roster fat.
The carnage will begin with two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, whom the Vikings inked to a two-year deal worth $30 million last offseason. Unfortunately, Hargrave has not been the stalwart interior presence that the team hoped, which led Alec Lewis of The Athletic to predict his exit from the franchise this spring.
“One of the more predictable offseason moves will be cutting defensive tackle Javon Hargrave. The reasoning? It’s a combination of age, production and financial savings,” Lewis wrote Thursday, December 18. “Hargrave will turn 33 in February. He has flashed in spurts as a pass rusher, but his 3.5 sacks have been underwhelming. And the Vikings can create $11 million in room for 2026 by parting ways with him.”
Hargrave’s run defense has also teetered on the average, with Pro Football Focus ranking him 57th in that category out of 129 interior defenders who have seen enough snaps to qualify for a rating this NFL season.
Jalen Redmond Most Likely Candidate to Replace Javon Hargrave on D-Line
GettyMinnesota Vikings defensive tackle Jalen Redmond.
Knocking $11 million off the cap for an aging player off a down year is good business for Minnesota in a vacuum, but the defense is still going to need to replace Hargrave with a viable alternative so as not to drop off even more.
Ideally the Vikings could do so from within, which is typically the most economical form of roster turnover alongside the draft. But Lewis noted Thursday that Minnesota’s options are somewhat limited in that regard.
Jalen Redmond is the obvious candidate. An undrafted rookie in 2023 with the Carolina Panthers, Redmond joined the Vikings last season. His snap count in 13 games (two starts) on defense in 2024 was 208. It has jumped to 664 snaps across 14 games (13 starts) this year in his age-26 campaign.
Redmond is PFF’s 16th-rated interior defender to this point in 2025, but he’s also a free agent next March who earned less than $1 million this season. He won’t command a raise into the upper reaches of pay at the position, but Redmond’s price is undoubtedly going up.
Lewis also noted the “improvement” of Levi Drake Rodriguez and the “promise” of undrafted rookie Elijah Williams, with a caveat.
“The Vikings still desperately need another fearsome defender on the interior,” Lewis wrote.
Jonathan Allen Borderline Cut Candidate for Vikings Next Offseason
GettyDefensive tackle Jonathan Allen #93 of the Minnesota Vikings.
Hargrave ranks 33rd among DTs, while Rodriguez is 45th. Jonathan Allen, the highest-paid interior defensive lineman on the Vikings defense at $51 million over three years and arguably the splashiest free-agent acquisition the team made last offseason, has performed well below his contract level and well below his peers.
PFF slates Allen as the 97th-best DT out of 129 players across the league, which isn’t anywhere near the production for which Minnesota paid so handsomely back in March. Lewis dubbed Allen as a cut candidate, though a less likely one than Hargrave for a couple of specific reasons.
“The conversation with Jonathan Allen is more difficult,” Lewis wrote. “He’s almost two years younger than Hargrave, and his contract doesn’t offer as much flexibility. Minnesota could cut him with a post-June designation, further resetting the books.”
The Vikings have several paths to restructuring the defensive interior, and can do so to various degrees. Though it appears close to a certainty that the position group is going to look significantly different in 2026.
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