The Vikings' offensive tackle depth missed taking another hit on Monday.
Agent: Tackle Rashod Hill signing one-year deal to stay with Vikings
Hill, the 29-year-old swing tackle, enters his sixth season with the Vikings on a one-year deal worth nearly $2.4 million guaranteed. It only counts $1.127 million against the cap under an NFL veteran salary benefit.
![Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer shook hands with Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle Rashod Hill (69) after he went off with an injury in the fourth quarter. ] ANTHONY SOUFFLE • anthony.souffle@startribune.com](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/TU54WWB54V3QSITKJCDTRHBUCI.jpg?&w=712)
Rashod Hill, the reserve called upon to start 17 games over the past four seasons, will stay in Minnesota after agreeing to a one-year deal, according to his agent Brett Tessler, who added Hill was mulling other offers.
Hill gets nearly $2.4 million guaranteed, according to NFLPA salary data, on what's called a veteran salary benefit deal. It only counts $1.127 million against the salary cap, while Hill pockets double that through a $2.24 million salary and a $137,500 signing bonus. These types of minimum deals are available for a veteran (or two) who have stayed with the same team for four straight seasons.
Hill, 29, originally joined the Vikings after he was plucked off the Jaguars practice squad in the middle of the 2016 season. Now only seven Vikings players have been with the team longer than him.
He'll at least maintain his role as a reliable swing tackle while the Vikings search for a new left tackle after cutting Riley Reiff last week. Interior linemen Dakota Dozier and Brett Jones are also free agents, making a free-agent addition at guard a possibility.
Hill is the first of the Vikings' 15 free agents (11 unrestricted) to re-sign. Those players were free to negotiate with other teams starting Monday morning, when the NFL's negotiating window opened. Players can officially sign contracts with new teams at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
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