The Vikings Designated Bradbury as a post-June 1st Cut- Should We Read Something into That?
With still over $30 million in cap space this year, why would the Vikings opt for a little more?
When the Minnesota Vikings released Garrett Bradbury, it was reported that he would be designated as a post-June 1st release, which allows the Vikings to shift more of the deadcap hit for releasing Bradbury into next year. That’s typically a move teams make when they don’t have a lot of cap space to work with in the current year- but the Vikings have over $30 million in cap space remaining this year.
That begs the question of why would they feel the need to do that?
More Deals Upcoming?
One of the most plausible reasons for the Vikings to do so is the most common- the need the extra salary cap space this year. But that would imply the Vikings are not yet done with their free agency shopping spree- despite having spent the most in free agency of any team this year by a significant margin if you add up all the total contract values.
But the Vikings still have some weak links in their roster, and there are still some free agents that could make sense. There really isn’t another reason that makes sense, as unused cap space rolls forward into next season- making the post-June 1st designation for Bradbury unnecessary as it wouldn’t make any difference for the Vikings’ 2026 salary cap one way or another. But if the Vikings are planning to use most of their cap space this year- and that’s what they’ve done just about every season for the last several- then pushing some of Bradbury’s deadcap hit into next season makes sense.
Who Could the Vikings be Looking to Acquire?
Of course the one big name that would likely be a substantial cap hit for the Vikings would be Aaron Rodgers. Of course if the Vikings’ wanted a high price veteran to play quarterback for them this season, they could’ve signed Sam Darnold to the same contract the Seahawks did, which apparently gives them an easy out after one year. And apart from some usually reliable insiders at The Athletic indicating the Vikings have interest and speculating they might sign him, there hasn’t been much to suggest the Vikings will take the plunge with Rodgers. Be that as it may, I also
have a hard time believing Kevin O’Connell would sit J.J. McCarthy another season and take on Aaron Rodgers and all that means for the franchise. Maybe as a backup and mentor to McCarthy on a backup salary, but that seems an unlikely role for Rodgers to embrace.
The Vikings still have a need for a veteran backup quarterback, however, and while the available options aren’t spectacular, they’re also not guys likely to play for the veteran minimum, so some cap space needs to be devoted to backup quarterback.
