The Minnesota Vikings have a slew of free agents to make decisions on this offseason and four of them come from the same position: cornerback.
Byron Murphy, Stephon Gilmore, Shaquill Griffin and Fabian Moreau are slated to hit free agency this month, so there’s a chance the Vikings’ cornerbacks room could look very different in 2025. The biggest priority of the four should be Murphy.
After all, Murphy is coming off an impressive season in which he received his first Pro Bowl nod, he’s still only 27 years old, and he offers versatility with his ability to play on the boundary and in the slot. He also excels in both man and zone coverage.
In 2024, Murphy surrendered a completion rate of 65.5% and a passer rating of 76.7 when targeted, and his solid Pro Football Focus coverage grade of 72.6 ranked 36th out of 223 cornerbacks.
After the season he just had, Murphy figures to draw a ton of interest on the open market. ESPN’s Aaron Schatz believes the Baltimore Ravens are a team that could swipe the former second-round pick from the Vikings in free agency.
Free agent Brandon Stephens was the weakest of Baltimore’s top three cornerbacks this past season and is hitting free agency, so the Ravens are in a prime position to improve their pass coverage. Unfortunately, they are low in cap space and might not be able to snag top cornerbacks like D.J. Reed or Charvarius Ward.
Murphy might come a bit cheaper because he wasn’t seen as a star cornerback until his breakout season in 2024. Murphy ranked fifth in coverage DVOA among qualified corners and had six interceptions with 14 passes defensed. Cornerback stats are notoriously inconsistent, so we can’t count on Murphy to have similar success in 2025, but he’s a quality veteran. He also would fit a Ravens defense that plays a mix of man and zone defenses; Minnesota played zone 69% this past season — the fourth-highest mark — although Murphy also excelled in man coverage.
The Ravens sported the second-worst pass defense in the NFL last season, with the unit giving up 244.1 yards per game. On top of that, as Schatz points out, Brandon Stephens was very disappointing.
The problem with the Ravens signing Murphy, who is projected to land a robust four-year, $88.3 million deal by Spotrac, is that they are not in a good spot financially.
Over the Cap has Baltimore sitting with $12.4 million in cap space entering free agency, and bear in mind they may re-sign Ronnie Stanley to a sizeable contract. Minnesota, on the other hand, is working with $63 million, so they can easily outbid the Ravens and most other teams in the NFL.
Murphy’s projection from Spotrac feels like it’s a bit too rich, but even if its anywhere in the ballpark, the Ravens are going to have a really tough time securing him in free agency.
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