4 free agents the Minnesota Vikings can sign to win a Super Bowl in 2025

Things didn't go to plan in the postseason for the Minnesota Vikings, which is probably putting it mildly. After Sam Darnold led this team to a 14-win regular season, Kevin O'Connell and everyone chanting SKOL probably didn't expect to get boat-raced by the Rams in the playoffs. But here we are and the offseason is now set to get underway. Despite the bad vibes of how the season ended, though, the vibes in Minnesota should remain high.

While the future of Darnold is a question that general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah will have to answer in the next couple of months, the Vikings have their future in J.J. McCarthy. Moreover, with a rookie quarterback contract, Minnesota comes into the offseason and NFL free agency with the fourth-most effective cap space in the league. Considering that they're light on draft capital, free agency is going to be crucial to keeping this team trending toward the top of the NFC.

But where should the Vikings allocate the money they have to spend? Spoiler alert: It's not Darnold, and it probably never should've been Darnold. Even with how well he played, it's better to hand the keys to McCarthy and that's even more so if they can re-sign Daniel Jones as a backup.

Outside of that quarterback question, though, these four free agent targets for the Vikings would make immense sense and perhaps even help this team make a deeper run in the playoffs a year from now.

4. Milton Williams could answer a sneaky need on Minnesota's defense

When you look at what the Vikings accomplished under Brian Flores defensively, there aren't many holes that you can poke in the job that was done. Despite some real question marks about the group coming into the season, they were one of the league's best. If you had to nitpick meaningfully, though, while the interior of the defense was phenomenal at stuffing the run, they struggled in terms of generating pass rush up the middle.

Milton Williams is the most obvious solution to that entering the free agency market. The former Eagles third-round pick is now at the end of his rookie deal with Philly but is coming off a phenomenal fourth season in the NFL. While he finished with 6.0 sacks that didn't totally jump off the page, he registered the second-best pass-rush grade among interior defensive linemen in the NFL according to PFF ($) while also racking up 40 total pressures on the season on just 302 pass rush snaps.

There's a chance too that the Vikings could get a relatively good deal on Williams given that he's a bit of a specialist who can have issues against the run. But he still might be priced out of the Eagles' plans and Minnesota is in the perfect spot to take advantage of that.

3. Demarcus Robinson could be a nice complement to Jefferson, Addison

There should be absolutely no questioning the viability of the top two receivers in Minnesota that J.J. McCarthy will be throwing to in 2025. Justin Jefferson might just be the best in the league while Jordan Addison continues to acquit himself well. And though T.J. Hockenson remains a top-tier tight end option as well, the depth at wide receiver for the Vikings is something that should be addressed this offseason.

What's good for Minnesota is that the state of their receiver room doesn't require them to spend hugely to add more depth at the position. And while I do suspect that one of the few draft picks in their possession could go toward doing so, it would also make a great deal of sense to pursue a veteran such as Demarcus Robinson as his contract with the Rams expires.

Over the last six seasons with the Chiefs, Ravens and then Rams, Robinson has been a consistent and reliable presence in a variety of passing offenses. He's finished with under 440 yards just twice over that span and with under 370 just once while registering at least three touchdowns in five of the six campaigns, including seven this past year in LA. Adding that type of safety option along with Jefferson and Addison could work wonders to expedite McCarthy's development.

2. Re-signing Byron Murphy is precisely what the Vikings secondary needs

Depending on how the board falls in the 2025 draft, I could realistically see the Vikings aiming to revamp the secondary a bit with a young prospect like Benjamin Morrison, Shavon Revel or even Jahdae Barron. Or, they could spend up in free agency and pay a premium for players like D.J. Reed or Charvarius Ward as they hit the open market. Before any of that, though, Byron Murphy needs to be secured back in the fold.

Obviously the first thing that jumps off the page with Murphy is that he led all cornerbacks in interceptions this season with six. While that might not be sustainable, though, he was one of the best cover corners as part of Flores' defense this past season in the entire league, including giving up only 76 receptions when targeted this season, the third-best mark in the league. All this was also while playing more than 1,000 snaps on the year. He was the goods.

Murphy has more than lived up to expectations in Minnesota. Letting him walk this offseason could have catastrophic implications, though, especially considering that aging veteran Stephon Gilmore is also set to hit free agency. Making sure they aren't replacing both corners is of the utmost importance and Murphy is the clear priority in that dynamic.

1. Trey Smith should be the Vikings top priority in free agency

It's hard not to look at Darnold's struggles handling pressure against the Rams in the playoffs loss and wonder if a healthy Christian Darrisaw would've changed the way that game played out. At the same time, the Vikings have their tackle duo set in stone for the future. The interior of the offensive line, however, is a bit less certain, particularly at guard after they brought Dalton Risner back into the fold.

While Risner performed the best among their guard options this season, Minnesota should use its ample cap space to find a more long-term solution, which Trey Smith indubitably is. The former sixth-round pick has been a bonafide star in Kansas City throughout his career but now hits the market at the end of his rookie contract. The Chiefs would love to hold onto him, surely, but a team with the cap flexibility and space of the Vikings can make that unviable for Smith to turn down.

Make no mistake, the price tag is going to be enormous, perhaps making Smith the highest-paid guard in NFL history. However, if that means keeping a young quarterback in McCarthy protected behind perhaps the best top-to-bottom offensive line trio in the league with Darrisaw, Brian O'Neill and Smith, that would be a wise use of the Vikings' resources.