Minnesota Vikings defensive lineman Jonathan Allen
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ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 14: Jonathan Allen #93 of the Minnesota Vikings participates in warmups prior to a game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on December 14, 2025 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
The Minnesota Vikings are already set to part ways with defensive tackle, Javon Hargrave and running back Aaron Jones Sr. as they look to get under the 2026 salary cap.
The team will save around $18.65 million by moving off those players, but even then the Vikings still have over $25 million more they need to shave off their roster in order to be cap compliant by the start of the new league year on March 11.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the latest move Minnesota is set to make in order to achieve that aim comes at the expense of defensive tackle Jonathan Allen.
Jeremy Fowler
The Vikings are expected to release DT Jonathan Allen due to salary cap constraints, per sources.
The former Pro Bowler had 68 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 17 starts. The Vikings are $40-plus million over the cap and need to get under, thus the move.
Vikings Will Move off Pro Bowl Defensive Tackle
“The Vikings are expected to release DT Jonathan Allen due to salary cap constraints, per sources. The former Pro Bowler had 68 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 17 starts. The Vikings are $40-plus million over the cap and need to get under, thus the move.”
Minnesota will save around $6.5 million in 2026 and $4.7 million in 2027 (had they cut him then instead) by moving on from Allen.
This latest move marks not only the end of the old regime under former General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, but acts as a de facto admission of failure on the part of the front office staff in multiple of their big-ticket free agent acquisitions last offseason.
The Vikings maxed out their large chunk of cap space last spring by adding Hargrave and Allen on deals that exceeded $80 million in total value, and now both are seeing their stays in Minneapolis end prematurely.
What Moves Will the Vikings Make Next?
Acting GM Rob Brzezinski still has $20 million to go before the team gets under the cap. And if he wants to be even a little aggressive he will need to find a way to alleviate more space than that.
Pro Bowl edge rusher Jonathan Greenard has been made available for trade, although the team are reportedly demanding a second or third round pick in compensation, with Greenard also wanting a pay rise from the total $38 million he is set to make over the next two seasons ($19 million per year).
The biggest ace-in-the-hole left for the Vikings’ front office is to cut right tackle Brian O’Neill, whose release would get them that elusive $20 million all by himself. But Minnesota is understandably reluctant to part ways with the man who was clearly the team’s best offensive lineman in 2025, and likely still has at least a couple more good years in him, being just 30 years old.
If O’Neill and Greenard both go, the Vikings will be able to go out and make a couple of low-mid level moves on the open market – one of which could well be signing quarterback Kyler Murray, who has been heavily linked to Minnesota after having been cut by the Arizona Cardinals on Tuesday.
Without O’Neill, the only other non-restructuring option would be to cut tight end T.J. Hockenson, whose production took a dip in 2025, in order to save themselves just shy of $9 million in 2026.