Under contract:
The Vikings have seven cornerbacks under contract for next season, but three of them are only signed to future contracts — Mark Fields, Kemon Hall and Marcus Sayles.
The polarizing Xavier Rhodes (more on him in a bit) is under contract for $10.5 million. Cornerback Mike Hughes, who should be back for training camp next season after suffering a neck injury, is in the third year of his rookie contract. Holton Hill and Kris Boyd are under contract for a combine $1.2 million
Free agents:
Starting cornerback Trae Waynes will be a free agent after a somewhat disappointing stretch in Minnesota after being drafted in the first round of the 2015 draft. The team’s best nickelback, Mackensie Alexander will also be a free agent and it seems unlikely either will be back.
While this seems like bad news, the cornerback group underperformed in 2019 and probably had its worst season under coach Mike Zimmer. A group of new faces might not be the worst thing, which brings us to . . .
Potential Cap Casualties:
It seems nearly certain that Rhodes will be on his way out. The one-time lockdown corner is no longer that. In fact, other teams targeted Rhodes nearly every game. Rhodes is due $10.5 million in 2019 and has a $12.9 million cap hit. If the Vikings cut him, they’d save $7.1 million, which seems like a no-brainer for GM Rick Spielman. We could see a restructured deal, too, but it might be best for the team just to move on from Rhodes.