Vikings officially add defensive tackle Javon Hargrave as free-agent signing period begins

The Vikings swooped in quickly to secure the services of defensive tackle Javon Hargrave on Wednesday, announcing an agreement at 4 p.m. Central time — exactly one hour after the 49ers released him.

Hargrave’s two-year deal, which includes $19 million guaranteed and can be worth as much as $30 million, according to a league source, did not come together that quickly, however.

The Vikings and Hargrave’s camp worked through the deal during the roughly two-day negotiating window, and the team had fair warning he’d be available.

49ers General Manager John Lynch told reporters in January that the team planned to release Hargrave, who played only three games last season because of a torn triceps muscle. The 49ers cut him two years into a four-year, $84 million deal he signed in 2023. But Lynch said they hoped to keep him on a reworked contract.

That did not happen as Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah continues to throw money at the offensive and defensive lines.

Adofo-Mensah agreed to pay upward of $15 million annually for Hargrave, one of the NFL’s best interior disruptors, just one day after agreeing to pay upward of $20 million annually for another top interior pass rusher, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen.

Before missing 14 games last year, Hargrave has been one of the NFL’s most durable defenders. He appeared in at least 15 games during each of his previous eight NFL seasons for the 49ers, Eagles and Steelers.

Hargrave has been named to two Pro Bowls, in 2021 and 2023, during his past three healthy seasons. He played in back-to-back Super Bowls for the Eagles and 49ers in 2022 and 2023, but lost both games.

Only seven NFL defensive tackles have more sacks than Hargrave’s 45.5 since he entered the league in 2016 as a third-round pick out of South Carolina State. His new teammate, Allen, isn’t far behind him with 42 career sacks.

Hargrave and Allen arrive to Vikings headquarters as two of last year’s starters, Jonathan Bullard and Jerry Tillery, became unrestricted free agents on Wednesday.

The Vikings added another defender, cornerback Tavierre Thomas, who is better known for his special teams work.

Thomas, 29, agreed to terms on an undisclosed contract to join his fifth different NFL team in eight seasons. But there has been one constant with Thomas, who went undrafted in 2018 out of Ferris State, wherever he’s gone.

He has eventually become a key special teamer.

Thomas led the Buccaneers last season in special teams snaps, blocking a Falcons field goal in Week 5 for the third deflected kick of his NFL career; he also blocked kicks in the 2021 preseason and 2019 regular season.

Adofo-Mensah is familiar with Thomas' work. Adofo-Mensah was the Browns vice president of football operations in 2020, when Thomas led Cleveland by playing 80% of special teams snaps.

The Vikings are returning many core special teamers from last season, but Thomas will create competition and help the Vikings replace receiver Trent Sherfield Sr., a special teamer who agreed to terms with the Broncos. Linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill, second on last year’s Vikings in special teams snaps, is also a free agent.

Thomas has also made 22 starts on defense — 19 came during his three-year run with the Houston Texans, where he played with current Vikings defenders Blake Cashman and Jonathan Greenard.

The 5-10, 205-pound Thomas has almost exclusively been a slot cornerback in the NFL, a spot typical for quick, smart and often undersized defensive backs. He’ll provide depth after the Vikings spent $18 million annually to re-sign their primary slot cornerback Byron Murphy Jr.

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