As NFL free agency opens, cap-strapped Vikings keep moves modest

The Vikings kept things modest on the first day of free agency under new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, as they grappled with the salary cap constraints left over from former GM Rick Spielman's final offseasons in Minnesota.

They announced their deal with former Bills defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, re-signed punter Jordan Berry to a one-year deal and made two other affordable moves with players familiar to their coaching staff. The Vikings signed former Rams tight end Johnny Mundt on a two-year deal that a league source said is worth up to $2.4 million, and brought in former Broncos offensive lineman Austin Schlottmann on a one-year veteran minimum deal.

There would be no headlining move for the Vikings on the first day of the 2022 league year, though, not with the team carrying more than $20 million in dead money from players it had either released or signed to deals with void years in 2021. The Vikings' last attempt to field a winner under Spielman forced them to push money into the future, as they dealt with a reduced salary cap because of COVID-19 last year, and they were forced to add where they could as Adofo-Mensah got to work.

Phillips' three-year, $19.5 million deal, to which the Vikings had agreed on Monday, will count $3.83 million against the salary cap this season. Linebacker Jordan Hicks, who signed with the team on Tuesday after being released by the Cardinals over the weekend, will cost $3.5 million against the cap in 2022.

The Vikings, who were more than $15 million over the cap last week, cleared nearly $14 million in cap space with a one-year extension for Kirk Cousins and then recouped $6.2 million by cutting defensive tackle Michael Pierce. The fact both Phillips and Hicks planned to sign their deals before a Thursday news conference bought the Vikings time to adjust their cap situation in advance of the deals becoming official.

Defensive end Danielle Hunter, who is due an $18 million roster bonus on Sunday, would seem like the most obvious candidate for a move. Sources have said this week the Vikings are exploring a trade for Hunter, who was the youngest player in NFL history to reach 50 career sacks but played just six games the past two years while dealing with a neck hernia and torn pectoral muscle during those seasons.

The Vikings put the roster bonus in Hunter's contract to resolve a dispute over his contract that had the pass rusher skipping organized team activities last spring. The bonus seemed like it would force the team to take action before it became official, and Hunter's situation could reach a denouement in the coming days, whether through a trade, a new deal or a move to convert the roster bonus into a signing bonus that would give Hunter the cash now while pushing cap charges into the future.

Mundt, who is coming off a torn ACL, will rehabilitate the injury with new Vikings athletic trainer Tyler Williams, who had worked with the tight end in Los Angeles. Mundt, 27, is mainly a blocking tight end with 10 catches for 93 yards in his NFL career. He joins the team after the Vikings reportedly lost Tyler Conklin — who caught 61 passes for 593 yards last seasons — to the Jets.

Schlottmann, 26, had started seven games the past three seasons with the Broncos, playing 42 games in Denver at all three interior spots after spending one year on the practice squad. Three coaches who'll work with the Vikings' run game — offensive line coach Chris Kuper, assistant offensive line coach Justin Rascati and running backs coach/run game coordinator Curtis Modkins — were with Schlottmann in Denver.

Star Tribune staff writer Andrew Krammer contributed reporting to this story.