3 Minnesota Vikings who won't be on the roster after the NFL trade deadline

The Vikings can clear up serious cap space by trading Harrison Smith

Harrison Smith took a pay cut to stay with the Vikings in 2023 but he's owed quite a bit of cash next year and restructuring his deal again doesn't seem particularly viable.

At 34 years old, Smith is entering the twilight of his career and Minnesota will have to seriously consider cutting him ahead of the 2024 season to clear up cap space. So putting him on the trade block simply makes too much sense.

The fact that he's coming off one of the best games of his career may make it bittersweet for Vikings fans, but this is actually the perfect time to ship him out. His value is bolstered by his performance against the Panthers with 14 tackles, three sacks, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble.

Harrison can still play. It's just in the interest of the team to move on while they have the chance to get something back for him.

If Harrison recreates that performance and leads the Vikings to a few more wins than expected over the next month, then he'll have played his way into staying in Minnesota. But the more likely outcome is a trade opportunity materializing while the Vikings get a head start on preparing the roster for 2024.