Daily Norseman
A big one to end the first night of free agency
Just when you thought the first day of free agency was coming to an end, the Minnesota Vikings decided to drop a big move right into our laps to finish the night.
Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network is reporting that the Vikings and cornerback Byron Murphy have agreed to a three-year, $66 million extension to keep the 2024 Pro Bowler in purple rather than letting him get to the unrestricted market.
Murphy’s contract was set to void tomorrow after the two sides agreed to move the void date of his contract in mid-February. However, the Vikings managed to get everything together and get the deal done before that happened.
The $22 million/year average appears to make Murphy the third-highest paid cornerback in the NFL, behind only Jalen Ramsey and Patrick Surtain II (according to the numbers from Over the Cap). That’s a pretty big figure, to be sure, but with Murphy coming off of what is unquestionably his best season and still being in his prime, it makes sense for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and company to make a deal like this one.
UPDATE/CORRECTION: It was brought to my attention that Murphy is now the fourth-highest paid corner in the league, as earlier today the Carolina Panthers signed Jaycee Horn to an extension that makes him the highest paid corner in the NFL. My apologies for the initial error.
Murphy’s return will also help to bring some stability to a secondary that has already lost safety Camryn Bynum and could, potentially, still lose Stephon Gilmore, Shaq Griffin, and Harrison Smith by the time it’s all said and done.
So, after a bit of a slow start to the first unofficial day of NFL free agency, the Vikings have finished things up with a bang with their decision to bring Byron Murphy back into the fold. Let us know what you think of the move in the comments, folks, and be sure to keep checking our Free Agency Tracker to keep up to date on all the moves being made by the purple in free agency!
