The Vikings are a team that loves to accumulate draft picks and this year was no different. Minnesota drafted 11 players in the 2021 NFL draft.
At the start of the offseason, the Vikings were over the salary cap, until the team released some veterans in order to maneuver in free agency. Now that the team has 11 draftees coming in — not to mention the undrafted free agents the team plans to sign — where does that leave it for cap space?
Well, according to Over the Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald, Minnesota will need $2.77 million of cap space to sign all of its draft picks (H/T Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press).
That leaves the Vikings with $4.83 million in 2021 salary cap space. However, Kyle Rudolph’s post-June 1 designation has yet to hit the cap, which should amount to a little under $8 million in additional savings.
All that is to say: Minnesota does not have a ton of cap space to work with outside of signing rookies, but it does have some. The team may have enough for a bargain signing or two on cheap deals in the future.