Vikings agree to terms with tight end Johnny Mundt on new contract

The Vikings announced Friday they agreed to terms on a new deal with tight end Johnny Mundt, who was set to hit free agency next week after two seasons with the team.

It’s a one-year contract worth $2.5 million, according to a league source.

Mundt, who followed coach Kevin O’Connell and offensive coordinator Wes Phillips from the Rams to the Vikings in 2022, caught 17 passes for a career-high 172 yards last year, posting 97 of those yards in the team’s final two games of the season after T.J. Hockenson was placed on injured reserve with a torn ACL. To that point, Mundt’s workload had dipped for much of 2023, as the Vikings made free-agent pickup Josh Oliver their No. 2 tight end for much of the season.

But with Hockenson’s status for the beginning of 2024 unclear after he had knee surgery on Jan. 29, Mundt could be a more prominent piece of the offense, at least early in the season.

He had started 12 games for the Vikings in 2022, playing a career-high 443 snaps that season after Irv Smith Jr.’s knee injury opened up a spot in the lineup. The Vikings’ trade deadline deal for Hockenson that year made Mundt a No. 2 tight end, and though O’Connell called Mundt the “best third tight end in the league last year,” the fact that the Vikings had given multiyear deals to Hockenson and Oliver made the rankings clear at the position.

Mundt gives the Vikings some insurance as Hockenson recovers, and he could begin the season as a more prominent receiving target if Hockenson isn’t ready for the first part of the year.