With few draft picks, Vikings nearly triple their spending on undrafted rookies

The Vikings pivoted to a more aggressive approach following the 2025 NFL draft, nearly tripling their spending on undrafted rookies compared to recent offseasons.

This came after the Vikings made just five selections, tied with the Falcons and Commanders for the fewest.

So General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and the front office effectively spent sixth-round guarantees to sign their most coveted undrafted players. While this Vikings roster is not short on experience, there are openings for developmental players. This year’s class is small and only about half — 12 of 23 players — selected in the 2022-2024 classes are still rostered.

The Vikings have signed 22 college players since the draft concluded, including nine players who got sixth-round money like Georgia tight end Ben Yurosek ($254,000 guaranteed), Auburn linebacker Austin Keys ($249,000), Utah cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn ($249,000), and Minnesota quarterback Max Brosmer ($246,000), according to OverTheCap.com.

Former BYU edge rusher Tyler Batty got an undrafted rookie-high $259,000 guaranteed at signing — or the equivalent of this year’s 181st-overall selection, an early sixth-round pick.

Overall, the Vikings guaranteed $2,881,000 to undrafted rookies. The previous high under Adofo-Mensah, hired in 2022, was nearly $1.2 million in 2023.

“There’s some people in there we think could compete for a roster spot‚" Adofo-Mensah said of undrafted free agency on April 26 while the seventh round was still going on.

The Vikings didn’t set a spending record for any one player; Army edge rusher Andre Carter II’s $340,000 guaranteed in 2023 remains the most handed out by this front office. But they spent a record total in the hope of landing multiple contributors.

Money doesn’t guarantee much beyond getting talent in the door.

Coach Kevin O’Connell said recently that he tells tryout players about success stories like fullback C.J. Ham, who made the team on a tryout with nothing guaranteed, or a more recent example: edge rusher Bo Richter, who carved out a special teams role last year as an undrafted rookie signed for $15,000 guaranteed.

Brosmer, who led the 8-5 Gophers last fall after transferring from New Hampshire, was asked at May 9 rookie minicamp whether he preferred going undrafted because he got late-round money while having some choice in his destination.

“I think if you do too much and try to get out of your mind and control too much, you get ahead of yourself,” Brosmer said. “Letting things happen — they happen for a reason, whether I get drafted in the third round, drafted in the seventh round or go undrafted, like, there’s a reason why I’m here. I do my best to live each day with that mentality; gratitude, curiosity, empathy, and I think it kind of just all unfolded as it should be.”

Here’s the full list of the Vikings’ guarantees to undrafted free agents: