Jalen Redmond, Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
This offseason the Minnesota Vikings needed to pave a path towards cap savings. A significant bill from free agency spending in 2025 was coming to a head, and clearing more than $40 million was necessary.
Rob Brzezinski worked his magic and got the roster compliant prior to the new league year opening on March 11. After doing so, it became time to add and supplement the roster. Kyler Murray and James Pierre represent the only new deals to this point, but arguably the most necessary young player to retain was Jalen Redmond.
He now has a new contract, and got a nice bonus for his performance last season. The best news is that bonus doesn’t impact the bottom line either.
Jalen Redmond gets a payday after MN Vikings breakthrough
The MN Vikings put an exclusive rights tender on Jalen Redmond this offseason after his strong 2025 performance. He’ll make $1.075 million on that deal. Thanks to his stellar work last year, he landed a bonus just shy of $1.2 million as well.
Top 25 performance based pay in #NFL pic.twitter.com/Ced5VukZCz
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) March 16, 2026
The Performance-Based Pay program is a collectively bargained benefit that will hand out nearly $550 million from last seasons accomplishments. The fund is a supplemental source of income that marries playing time to salary. Eligibility requires a player to receive at least a single official snap, and those that benefit most combine playtime percentage with a lower salary.
Due to the program being part of the benefits offered by the league, Redmond’s nice bonus doesn’t count at all against the salary cap.
Playing on just a $968,000 salary last season, Redmond’s production vaulted him near the top of the list. The 26-year-old played in all 17 games and drew 15 starts. After appearing in just 24% of defensive snaps in 2024, that number shot up to 74% last season.
Redmond had only a single sack as a rotational player in his first year with the Vikings. Last season, despite the additions of Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen in the middle, he was the key interior piece. Redmond racked up six sacks and 62 tackles. He had 12 tackles for loss and eight quarterback hits.
Minnesota moved on from both Hargrave and Allen this offseason, so they will be looking for Redmond to replicate his performance.
Minnesota Vikings former defender tops bonus list
It is worth noting that the player who raked in the largest bonus from 2025 was Nashon Wright. The MN Vikings acquired him from the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for Andrew Booth only to cut him with just a single game played.
Nahshon Wright picks off McCarthy and takes it to the house!
MINvsCHI on ESPN/ABC
Stream on @NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/TAkwfZqzPY
— NFL (@NFL) September 9, 2025
Wright played in 17 games last season for the Chicago Bears, starting 16 of them. He had five interceptions, including a pick six against J.J. McCarthy in Week 1. Ultimately he wound up making the first Pro Bowl of his career.
For a MN Vikings team that just signed a cornerback this offseason, and struggled through playing Jeff Okudah all year, he’s definitely a guy they wish they would have kept around. He signed a one-year deal with the New York Jets this offseason.
Mentioned in this article: Jalen Redmond
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