The Minnesota Vikings are trying to maximize their player assets before the start of the new league year on March 11, which includes an attempt to trade one of their top signings of last offseason.
Jordan Schultz reported via social media on Tuesday, February 24 that Minnesota is looking to deal defensive tackle Javon Hargrave ahead of his age-33 campaign.
“Sources: The #Vikings have had trade talks with teams regarding 2x Pro Bowl DT Javon Hargrave,” Schultz wrote on X. “Hargrave started 15 games last year and had 3.5 sacks in his first season with Minnesota.”
The problem the Vikings are going to have moving Hargrave is the knowledge around the NFL that the team will likely cut him in the coming days if it can’t find a deal.
“One of the more predictable offseason moves will be cutting defensive tackle Javon Hargrave. The reasoning? It's a combination of age, production and financial savings,” Alec Lewis wrote back in December. “And the Vikings can create $11 million in room for 2026 by parting ways with him.”
Hargrave’s base salary in 2026 on his two-year, $30 million contract is $14.2 million. Any team interested can wait for the defensive tackle to hit the open market and negotiate against other bidders from there, likely to a more franchise-friendly annual figure that keeps Hargrave under contract beyond just next season.
Meanwhile, the Vikings need to clear more than $43 million off the books just to get salary cap compliant, and that says nothing of the amount of money Minnesota will need to add quarterback competition for JJ McCarthy, as well as fill the starting center role and address what could be multiple positions of need in the secondary this offseason.
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