Minnesota still has some cap space to make moves in the offseason, but some of those potential moves will be limited, due to the dead money the Vikings have incurred.
The Vikings are saddled with more than $20 million in dead money, due to various roster decisions. Dead money is money that is contributed towards the salary cap, but cannot be used to sign players. When a team cuts a player, a certain amount of that player’s cap hit can be saved and used on other talent, but a certain amount of it is dead money, which cannot be used.
Minnesota ranks fifth among NFL teams in dead money, per Over The Cap. The only teams ahead of the Vikings in dead money are the Lions, Patriots, Jaguars and Panthers. It’s worth pointing out, though, that all those teams besides the Patriots, have enough cap space to sign a decent player in free agency.
New England has just $708,585 in cap space. The Patriots could, however, sign someone to a minimum contract for players with at least three years’ experience and less than seven.