Three Free Agents the Vikings Should Pursue
Last year's free agent haul was a home run. Here are three ideas for an encore.
Free agency begins on March 12, the first day of the NFL’s 2025 League Year. Last year, the Vikings knocked it out of the park in this part of the roster-building process.
The signings that made the most impact included quarterback Sam Darnold, edge rushers Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, and running back Aaron Jones.
The Vikings will enter free agency with the seventh-most salary cap space. This means they will be major players once again.
Here are three players the Vikings should pursue.
RG Will Fries (Indianapolis Colts)
The trendy name tied to the Vikings in free agency is Kansas City Chiefs right guard Trey Smith. Don’t get me wrong, that would be a great move for Minnesota. But the Vikings won’t be the only team in the market for his services.
If the Vikings are unable to land Smith, then pivoting to Will Fries is great consolation. One could argue he’s as good or perhaps an even better - or safer - choice.
Albeit in only 268 snaps due to a broken tibia, Fries was a standout at his position last season. Pro Football Focus gave him an 86.9 overall grade, a 74.9 pass blocking grade and an 84.9 run blocking grade. Among 135 players graded at his position, those grades ranked him fourth, 18th and fifth, respectively.
At 6-6, 305 pounds, Fries has the frame you’re looking for in a right guard. He will command a handsome salary but he won’t break the bank. And he is just entering his physical prime at 27 years old.
Signing Fries would, in theory, solidify the right guard spot and beef up the competition at left guard among last year’s starter, Blake Brandel, and anyone else the Vikings choose to bring back.
Signing another starting interior offensive lineman, such as C Drew Dalman or OG Aaron Banks, would be advisable to do in tandem with signing Fries. Following up two signings like that with the selection of an interior linemen in the first three rounds of the draft would give the offensive line a shot of talent and depth.
DT Osa Odighizuwa (Dallas Cowboys)
I promise it will be harder to explain how to pronounce this name than it will be to make the case for the Vikings to sign him.
Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa (pronounced oh-DIG-ee-zoo-wah) would look good in purple.
The caveat here is that Odighizuwa could definitely stand to improve as a run defender. PFF gave him a 50.8 grade in run defense for last season. So if you’re partial to run stoppers at this position for the Vikings, then you’re interest might wane here.
As a penetrator and pass rusher, though, Odighizuwa fits the bill.
The 6-2, 280-pounder had 7.0 sacks in 2024. Furthermore, out of the 219 interior defensive linemen graded by PFF last season, Odighizuwa ranked third in pressures (60), fourth in quarterback hits (14) and fifth in hurries (39). He had a 78.5 pass rush grade (11th out of 219) and a 68.1 overall grade (38/219).
In their write up of the Top 100 free agents of 2025, PFF described Odighizuwa as one of the NFL’s more underrated defenders.
Odighizuwa is only 26 years old, has demonstrated the ability to penetrate and make plays behind the line of scrimmage and would have great veterans to learn from in Minnesota when it comes to defending the run.
CB Isaiah Rodgers (Philadelphia Eagles)
In the February 13 episode of Bleav in Vikings, I identified three Philadelphia Eagles free agents the Vikings should pursue. Two of them were on defense, with tackle Milton Williams being one of them and cornerback Isaiah Rodgers being the other.
We’ll focus on Rodgers here.
At 5-10, 170 pounds, Rodgers doesn’t have ideal size. That’s about all there is to knock him for, though.
Rodgers has big-game experience, having just won Super Bowl 59 with the Eagles, he is just entering his prime at 27 years old, and he came up the hard way as a 6th-round pick in 2020. All of those are positive indicators for his prospects of contributing as a more regular player on defense.
Perhaps Rodgers’ best traits are his his awareness and versatility.
This is something former Vikings and Eagles safety Anthony Harris explained to me on that Feb. 13 podcast. Harris walked through, step by step, a play Rodgers made in the Super Bowl that required him to identify, diagnose and react to an off-script play by Patrick Mahomes.
Harris also explained Rodgers can help in multiple phases of special teams, including in the return game and as a gunner on the punt team.
“Those are things he’s done,” Harris said. “Playing man. Playing zone. Understanding and playing a lot of football as well as helping out in the special teams area.”
While I believe the Vikings should and will re-sign CB Byron Murphy, they should let both Stephon Gilmore and Shaq Griffin walk in favor of the much younger and more versatile Rodgers. Following this path would also leave the door open for Mekhi Blackmon to battle for a starting spot when he returns from a torn ACL sustained on the first day of training camp last summer.
A starting trio of Blackmon, Murphy and Rodgers would provide the Vikings with a younger and higher-ceiling group of cornerbacks, and that’s not to mention the possibility the Vikings could use one of their early-round picks on the position in this year’s draft, too.