The Vikings have officially locked up Jordan Addison for the 2027 season.
Minnesota announced on Monday that the club has exercised Addison’s fifth-year option, putting him under contract for another year.
Addison is now set to make $18 million guaranteed in the final year of his rookie deal.
The No. 23 overall pick of the 2023 draft, Addison has been productive in each of his three seasons, playing alongside one of the league’s top receivers in Justin Jefferson. In 2025, Addison caught 42 passes for 610 yards with three touchdowns in 14 games.
In all, Addison has tallied 175 receptions for 2,396 yards with 22 touchdowns. He’s also rushed for 103 yards with two TDs.
Addison is extension eligible, having completed his third season. The fifth-year option could be a starting point for negotiations on a long-term deal.
Vikings Clips
The Vikings did not draft any wide receivers this year, but they added four of them to their roster after the draft ended on Saturday.
The team announced the signing of 19 undrafted free agents to go with their nine draft picks and the group includes wideouts Dillon Bell, Shaleak Knotts, Marcus Sanders Jr., and Luke Wysong.
Bell had 119 catches over four seasons at Georgia while Knotts led Maryland with 717 receiving yards last season. Sanders had 50 catches for 797 yards at Georgia Southern in 2025 and Wysong wrapped up his college time at Arizona after playing four years at New Mexico.
The Vikings also signed North Carolina cornerback Marcus Allen, North Texas cornerback Da’Veawn Armstead, Notre Dame linebacker Jordan Botelho, Texas A&M cornerback Tyreek Chappell, South Carolina defensive lineman Monkell Goodwine, UCF linebacker Keli Lawson, Clemson offensive lineman Tristan Leigh, Dartmouth offensive lineman Delby Lemieux, FIU running back Kejon Owens, Virginia Tech offensive lineman Tomas Rimac, Temple linebacker Cam’Ron Stewart, James Madison safety Jacob Thomas, Georgia punter Brett Thorson, Colorado linebacker Arden Walker, and Texas A&M linebacker Scooby Williams.
The Vikings added four players on the second night of the draft. That’s still not the headline.
Minnesota traded defensive end Jonathan Greenard to the Eagles, in a move that entailed both teams proceeding quietly and discreetly while Greenard went to Philadelphia to take a physical.
After the Vikings made their Day 2 picks, executive V.P. of football operations Rob Brzezinski addressed the decision to trade Greenard.
“This is not something we’re jumping around excitedly about, but we do feel like we [did] the best thing for the organization moving forward,” Brzezinski said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN — who described the mood as “somber.”
So why not just give Greenard the four-year, $100 million deal he received from the Eagles? With Will Anderson recently moving the market at the position to $50 million per year, paying Greenard half that amount doesn’t seem to be a ridiculous amount.
“We have just spent so much money the last several years that it’s not sustainable for us to move forward,” Brzezinski said. “Our salary cap situation has been very, very challenging.”
That’s the price for going all-in a year ago, despite not having a viable plan at quarterback. They surely didn’t sign Greenard in 2024 with the goal of keeping him for two years. And so they opted to seize on the opportunity to roll the dice on a pair of younger, cheaper players in the form of a third-round pick in 2026 and a third-round pick in 2027.
The onus now falls on the front office (which currently doesn’t have a G.M.) to get the right players, and on the coaching staff to develop them into contributors. And then to manage the cap in a way that allows them to reward and retain their best players.
When will new Eagles defensive end Jonathan Greenard make his first appearance in Philadelphia? He already has.
Greenard was spotted at the Celtics-76ers NBA playoff game with Eagles’ jack-of-all-trades Big Dom a/k/a Dom DiSandro.
Here’s video of Greenard at the game. Big Dom can be seen behind him.
Per the Eagles, Greenard arrived in Philly earlier in the day for a physical. After it was complete and the deal was agreed to and announced, Greenard went to the game at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Greenard fills the void that was created when Jaelan Phillips signed a four-year, $120 million deal with the Panthers. The Eagles had given up a third-round pick to the Dolphins in order to secure Phillips for the 2025 stretch run.
After making their second-round pick, the Vikings made a move that likely will not go over well with the fan base.
Defensive end Jonathan Greenard has been traded to the Eagles, for a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 third-round pick. The Eagles also received pick No. 244 in the 2026 draft.
Greenard gets a four-year, $100 million extent, per multiple reports as leaked by Greenard’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus.
The possibility of a trade had lingered for weeks. Greenard, who was signed in free agency from the Texans when former Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter signed with Houston, wanted a raise over his $19 million compensation package for 2026.
The new deal averages $25 million per year, which remains well below the top of the market for edge rushers.
After racking up 12.0 sacks in 2024, his first with the Vikings, Greenard had only three sacks in 2025. Injuries limited him to 12 games with 10 starts.
The move now gives the Vikings three picks in tonight’s third round, subject to additional moves.
The Vikings have focused on improving their defense through the first two rounds of the 2026 NFL draft.
After adding Florida defensive tackle Caleb Banks with the 18th pick in round one, the Vikings have selected Cincinnati linebacker Jake Golday with the 51st overall pick.
The Vikings traded down from No. 49 to No. 51 with the Panthers to make the selection.
Golday was made the first-team All-Big 12 team in 2025. He led the team with 105 tackles. He was the first Cincinnati player to register more than 100 tackles since current Vikings linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. in 2022.
The Vikings are scheduled to have a pair of third-round picks later tonight.
The Vikings have added some young talent to their defensive line.
With the 18th overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft, the Vikings have selected Florida defensive tackle Caleb Banks.
The 23-year-old Banks spent two years at Louisville before transferring and playing three years at Florida. He’s 6-foot-6, 327 pounds and undeniably talented, although his history of injuries is a concern. His most recent injury was a broken bone in his foot at the Scouting Combine, but he is expected to be ready before training camp.
A quarterback competition between Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy will be the most-watched story in Vikings camp, but Minnesota fans will also be keeping a close eye on Banks, whom they hope will make a big impact on defense as a rookie.
Former Vikings defensive lineman Doug Martin, the ninth overall pick in the 1980 draft, has died. He was 68.
Martin spent 10 years with the Vikings. He appeared in 126 regular-season games, with 94 starts.
In 1982, which was shortened to nine games due to a strike, Martin led the league with 11.5 sacks. He had a career-high 13 sacks in 1983.
Martin had 61.5 sacks for his career, which puts him at fourth on the team’s all-time sack list. He was on the last two Vikings teams that played outdoors, before the opening of the Metrodome in 1982.
His older brother, George, played for the Giants from 1975 through 1988.
We extend our condolences to Martin’s family, friends, and colleagues.
The Vikings opened their offseason program without safety Harrison Smith, but the door hasn’t been closed on the veteran’s return if he decides to play in 2026.
Smith wrapped up his 14th season in the final game of the 2025 campaign and said late in the year that he was unsure if he would be back for a 15th year. Smith is currently a free agent and head coach Kevin O’Connell said that he has remained in touch with the longtime cornerstone of the defense.
“It’s been a few days, but now that you remind me, I’ll probably bug him today,” O’Connell said, via the team’s website. “It’s something [where] we’re still trying to give Harrison as much space as possible, and I think he’s earned that. If it’s anything at this point, it’s seeing how he’s doing, seeing how his family is, seeing how his golf game is.”
Josh Metellus, Jay Ward, Tavierre Thomas, Theo Jackson, and Kahlef Hailassie are the current safeties on the Vikings roster.
At the end of the 2025 season, Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson was asked about quarterback J.J. McCarthy and said that he “would love to work with him and show everybody that he is that No. 1 guy” but that picture looked a little different when the team started their offseason program on Monday.
The Vikings signed Kyler Murray after the Cardinals released him and that makes McCarthy’s path back to the starting lineup a more difficult one over the coming months. Jefferson said on Monday that he has spent time working with McCarthy since the end of last season and finds the quarterback “a lot more confident” than he was a year ago, but also said he’s enthused about Murray’s ability to make “big, exciting plays” in the offense.
That ability could push McCarthy out of the No. 1 job, but Jefferson outlined why the situation can ultimately be a positive for the quarterback.
“I’m definitely looking forward to [Murray’s] speed, his quickness, his arm strength that he’s shown countless times over the years,” Jefferson said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com. “And then for J.J., for somebody to enter that room with that type of ability, that type of talent, he’s got to step it up a little bit. So it’s good for him to feel that type of pressure and to really lock in a little bit and say, ‘It’s either now or I’m going to take that back seat again.’ So it’s all a competitive mindset when it comes to these type of things. So it’s all about who’s ready for that moment and who’s ready to step up and take that initiative.”
There’s a lot to play out before the Vikings name their quarterback for Week 1, but there’s little doubt that McCarthy will have to raise his level of play to remain part of the team’s long-term plans.
