The Minnesota Vikings enter Week 17 with no glaring roster weaknesses, but that will change as soon as this special 2024 season comes to an end.
GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah figures to focus his immediate attention on the secondary at the start of the 2025 league year. Top corners Bryon Murphy Jr., Stephon Gilmore and Shaq Griffin are all playing on expiring contracts. Star safety Cam Bynum is up after this year as well, and franchise icon Harrison Smith will likely need a contract adjustment if he decides to play on into his age 36 season.
Matt Holder of Bleacher Report predicts Adofo-Mensah and the Vikings will plan for the future at the safety position by landing All-SEC senior Billy Bowman Jr. of the Oklahoma Sooners. Here was his take on the potential fit in Minnesota:
With Harrison Smith’s and Camryn Bynum’s contracts about to expire, Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah will likely be looking for at least one safety in the draft. Meanwhile, Billy Bowman Jr. currently has a third-round grade from B/R’s scouting department and has drawn comparisons to Tyrann Mathieu.
It would make sense for the Vikings to start planning for life without Smith, the six-time Pro Bowler who has spent his entire 13-year NFL career in Minnesota. He’s technically under contract through the 2025 season, but to Holder’s point, it would take a short-term extension to realistically keep him with the team for another season.
Bowman is a smaller safety than Smith at 5-foot-10, but he’s a playmaker. He had six interceptions and three touchdowns during his junior season in 2023, and he came back in 2024 with 55 total tackles and two INTs, bringing his career total to 11.
The Bleacher Report scouting department highlighted Bowman’s positional versatility and physicality in run defense, which could make him a potential fit for defensive coordinator Brian Flores: “Known for his football IQ and aggressive play style, Bowman has made an impact at Oklahoma with his physical run defense and reliable coverage skills, despite his lack of size and length.”
Projecting Bowman as a third-round pick puts him in a dead zone for Minnesota, which currently has three selections in the 2025 NFL Draft: a first-round pick and two fifth-rounders. The Vikings are, however, expected to land a third-round compensatory pick for losing Kirk Cousins to the Atlanta Falcons, so that could be the spot to watch, either for Bowman or another prospect to help bolster the secondary.
Read the full article here
