Minnesota Vikings Set To Part With Key Pieces This Offseason
The Minnesota Vikings are cleaning house. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Vikings have informed veteran Running Back Aaron Jones and Defensive Tackle Javon Hargrave that they’ll be released at the start of the 2026 league year, barring a trade.
The Vikings entered the offseason roughly $43 million over the NFL’s new $301.2 million salary cap, the bill finally coming due after two consecutive years of aggressive free agent spending. Cutting Jones and Hargrave saves Minnesota approximately $18.65 million.
Why the Vikings Are Moving On From Aaron Jones
Jones is a genuinely good football player. The 31-year-old had one of the best individual seasons of his career in 2024, rushing for a career-high 1,138 yards on 255 carries while hauling in 51 catches for 408 yards. He was the kind of veteran presence that locker rooms are built around. Then 2025 happened.
Jones missed five games due to injury, his yards-per-carry dipped to a career-low 4.2, and he finished the year with just 548 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. Jordan Mason quietly stepped in and outperformed him down the stretch, rushing for 758 yards and 6 touchdowns. Age didn’t beat Jones. Injury history and a $14.8 million cap number did.
He’s entering the final year of a two-year, $20 million extension. For a team drowning in cap debt, carrying a 31-year-old running back at that price tag was a liability.
Javon Hargrave Gets Caught in the Crossfire
Hargrave’s situation is a bit different and a bit sadder. He’s a two-time Pro Bowler who signed with Minnesota last year after bouncing back from a torn triceps that cut his 2024 season with the San Francisco 49ers short. The Vikings took a shot on him. He repaid them by starting 15 games.
But 3.5 sacks and $21.7 million on the cap? That’s not a math problem you can ignore. Hargrave turned 33 in February. The production isn’t matching the price, and with Jalen Redmond waiting in the wings as an exclusive-rights free agent, Minnesota has options. It is the kind of cold-blooded roster management that reminds you this is a business first.
What Comes Next For the Vikings
Releasing Jones and Hargrave doesn’t get the Vikings all the way to cap compliance. They still have more work to do before the league year opens on March 11. Other names on the chopping block reportedly include Defensive Tackle Jonathan Allen and Center Ryan Kelly. Contract restructures for Justin Jefferson, T.J. Hockenson, and Brian O’Neill are also reportedly on the table.
But cap space is only half the problem. The other half? Quarterback. J.J. McCarthy enters 2026 as the starter, but the Vikings are actively looking to bring in competition — or a replacement if he struggles again. Names like Geno Smith, Kyler Murray, Kirk Cousins, Aaron Rodgers, and Anthony Richardson have all been floated as possibilities.
The front office isn’t exactly overflowing with confidence in their young signal-caller right now, and that quarterback uncertainty looms over every other roster decision the Vikings make this offseason.
For Jones and Hargrave, the door isn’t necessarily closing on their careers — it’s just closing in Minnesota. Both players still have value around the league, and both will draw interest. But their time in purple is done.
The Vikings had a vision. They spent big, swung hard, and won 14 games in 2024. Then 2025 gave them a reality check — a 9-8 season and a salary cap bill that would make your accountant cry. Now they’re rebuilding on the fly, trimming fat while trying to keep the foundation intact.
