5 players the Vikings must let walk in free agency during the NFL offseason

Minnesota enters the 2026 offseason with one clear lesson from 2025: The quarterback room can’t be left to chance again. Reports have already pegged the Vikings as a team looking for a veteran quarterback for real competition and, just as importantly, safer backup plan if JJ McCarthy he misses time again, after Max Brosmer struggled in relief.

The Vikings don’t have the luxury of paying for depth pieces that can be traded for cheaper options, especially if the goal is to maintain enough flexibility to add a legitimate veteran passer and still fix the roster around him. Let’s look at a few options that could/should leave the team for a better year right now.

Carson WentzKB

Wentz is the cleanest decision because the entire quarterback conversation in Minnesota is now about reliability and contingency planning. The Vikings have already lived through the nightmare scenario of 2025, and even sympathetic evaluations of Wentz still fall in the same place: He’s not the kind of veteran you build your contingency plan around. If O’Connell is serious about adding a stabilizing veteran presence, that almost automatically takes Wentz out of the picture, because bringing him back would just recreate the same fragile structure they’re trying to replace.

Ty Chandler, RB

Chandler is the type of backroom team that gets talked into keeping him because he’s familiar and has had moments, but that’s where good front offices stay cold. Minnesota can find rotational production without paying for it, and the Vikings’ bigger problem is creating an offense that doesn’t depend on perfect conditions to function. When you’re trying to rework your quarterback scheme, you can’t spend significant money on a backfield role that can be filled through the draft or a cheaper veteran. Chandler also sits in that awkward middle tier where a decent market can form quickly, and Minnesota shouldn’t be the team that funds him.

Rondale MooreVR

Moore is a good example of why teams are trapped by theoretical skills. His name should come up in the Vikings’ free agent pool, but Minnesota’s real mission to build the roster is bigger than collecting tackle potential. If the offseason’s priority is giving the quarterback stability in the room, that means the receiving corps needs clarity, roles that translate in December and players the staff can trust with details.

Moore can absolutely help on offense, but if the market values ​​him as a prominent chess piece, Minnesota should let someone else foot that bill and reallocate those resources toward adding a veteran quarterback, protection and the kinds of targets that make the offense easier for the passer.

Jalen Naylor, VR

Nailor is emotionally more difficult because he was part of the room and can play, but the Vikings have to make decisions as a team that wants to win with structure. He’s being talked about as one of Minnesota’s key offseason decisions, which is exactly the point.

With Justin Jefferson as the centerpiece and other cash priorities piling up, the Vikings can’t afford to pay market value for receiver depth unless that player is clearly irreplaceable in their scheme. If Naylor’s market provides him with rookie money or multi-year security, the Vikings should let him go and draft the next version of that role.

Jeff OkudaCB

Okudah is the type of player who can command a market based on pedigree and newfound optimism to begin with, and that’s exactly why Minnesota needs to be wary. He was part of Minnesota’s free agency picture, and the cornerback is always tempting because the league is built on passing.

But paying for an angle that hasn’t clearly become the long-term answer can quickly turn into a quiet problem. The Vikings need corners, yes, but they also need sustainable team building, and that usually means either paying up for a true difference maker or drafting and developing while spending your bigger money elsewhere. If Okudah’s price rises into a range where you’re paying more than safety, the responsible move is to let him walk.

The uncomfortable truth is that the walk list is not about disrespect at all. Minnesota has a core at the top of the roster that can win games, but the 2025 season showed how quickly the floor collapses, and that’s why their offseason resources should be directed toward positions that prevent those collapses: running back depth, protection, and the kind of pass support that keeps the offense going and knows what the opposition is going to be alive.

This is also why chatter about the trading market is important in the bigger picture. Alec Lewis is attached to a report involving Mack Jones as a particularly clean trade if the team wants a realistic push option behind, or in place of, McCarthy given the system familiarity angle and manageable salary structure being discussed.

So if the Vikings are serious about reshaping 2026 around quarterback competency, these are the types of exits that need to happen.

They need to clear the runway so the Vikings can rebuild the room in all the right ways and stop letting one injury derail the entire season.