The Minnesota Vikings have a stacked roster on both sides of the football heading into the 2025 campaign, and it could prove even better than it looks on paper.
Some of Minnesota’s moves ahead of last year paid off immediately. For instance, edge rushers Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, both of whom the Vikings inked in free agency, put up 12 sacks and 11.5 sacks, respectively. Greenard earned the first Pro Bowl nod of his career, while Van Ginkel was a Pro Bowler and a second-team All-Pro for the first time in his six-year NFL tenure.
But not everyone hits right away, particularly when they are rookies. Minnesota selected two players in the first round of the 2024 draft: quarterback J.J. McCarthy and edge rusher Dallas Turner. McCarthy missed the entirety of the campaign due to a preseason knee injury but will presumably start Week 1 of this season. Turner, meanwhile, was a rotation player behind Greenard and Van Ginkel and saw just 300 defensive snaps (28% total) at the outside linebacker position.
But head coach Kevin O’Connell expects that the former Alabama star will be one of Minnesota’s breakout players in 2025 after a year of learning and improving as a back up.
“I hope people haven’t forgotten about Dallas Turner,” O’Connell told Rich Eisen of NFL Network on Saturday, April 26, following the conclusion of the draft. “[He’s] really a guy that I’m expecting a huge jump from year one to year two. He really started to come on as the season went on last year. It’s a tough group, tough lineup to crack when you’ve got those top two guys playing the way that they were.”
Dallas Turner Produced Decent Numbers on Defense, Played Big Role on Vikings’ Special Teams in Rookie Year
The play of Greenard and Van Ginkel allowed Minnesota to keep Turner in the proverbial backseat of the defense, though he did have some moments over the course of the year.
Turner finished the campaign with five QB hits, three sacks, three tackles for loss, one interception and one pass breakup, per Pro Football Reference.
He also played 226 snaps on special teams, which was more than 50% of the Vikings’ snaps in that phase across the regular season.
Vikings Control Next 4 Years of Dallas Turner’s NFL Career
As the No. 17 pick in the 2024 draft, the 22-year-old Turner still has three seasons remaining on his four-year rookie deal worth a total of $15.8 million. And as a first-rounder, the Vikings hold a fifth-year team option on Turner’s deal for the 2028 campaign.
Turner’s annual average salary over the next three years offers Minnesota a ton of potential value if O’Connell is correct and the outside linebacker can evolve into a true terror off the edge.
Greenard, who will play in 2025 at the age of 28, is entering the second season of a four-year contract and will likely be around for a couple more campaigns, at least. Van Ginkel, however, will be 30 next season, which is his last under contract with the Vikings.
Van Ginkel is making just $10 million in annual average salary, which rendered him a huge bargain in 2024. However, if he plays even close to that well again, his market value will jump enough that it may make sense for Minnesota to transition to Turner as a younger and less expensive option alongside Greenard and allow Van Ginkel to seek more money on the open market.
