Vikings’ Top Corner “is Poised to Hit the Open Market”

Think Byron Murphy Jr., the Vikings’ top corner, is guaranteed to return?

A recent report from Jordan Schultz casts some doubt on the possibility. Consider the update: “Sources: While Minnesota wants him back, free agent CB Byron Murphy is poised to hit the open market on Monday when the legal tampering period begins, and he’s anticipated to have a strong market. The 27-year-old is coming off a Pro Bowl season and has totaled nine interceptions over the last two years with the #Vikings.”

Vikings’ Top Corner Byron Murphy & Monday’s Free Agency

In a lot of ways, the situation feels similar to Danielle Hunter last offseason.

Minnesota’s edge rusher position was in dire straits, possessing just Patrick Jones II and Andre Carter II as options. The widespread assumption was that Hunter — who was coming off an excellent year — would be a priority to bring back.

Instead, Minnesota pivoted. Jonathan Greenard landed a four-year contract that comes with a relatively cheap per year average ($19 million/season). Even better, Andrew Van Ginkel was added with a deal spanning two seasons while offering $20 million, a total bargain. Hunter was allowed to walk and Minnesota then further reinforced the position with Dallas Turner in the draft.

No doubt, losing Mr. Murphy would sting.

There are several corners currently on the offseason roster, the most notable of whom being Mekhi Blackmon and Dwight McGlothern. Both of these players offer promise and yet one is going into his third year coming off of a missed season due to a torn ACL (Blackmon) and the other is going into his sophomore season after being scooped up as an UDFA (McGlothern). In other words, success isn’t guaranteed for either.

Retaining Murphy would go a long way toward solidifying the secondary. Still only 27, Murphy has six seasons of NFL experience. More importantly, he possesses the coveted versatility that Brian Flores loves in his defenders. The cherry on top is that Murphy can make plays on the football, showing excellent hands and a great ability/timing to high-point the pigskin.

Byron Murphy started all seventeen games last season. He had 81 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 6 interceptions, and 14 passes defended. All of those statistics represent career highs.

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah very likely has a firm number in his mind for how high is too high. His history as the Vikings’ GM suggests that he won’t go above the price that he has determined is fair.

Consider his thoughts on how leverage works: “Your leverage in a negotiation is your willingness to do something else. So I gotta say, ‘I will not do this because I would rather do these three other things and make our team better.’ It’s gotta mean something.”

Applied specifically to Murphy, Adofo-Mensah will know what his options are for fixing the corner position. Having a strong understanding of the various ways he can address the glaring need will allow him to pivot if there ends up being a need, ensuring the GM doesn’t push the price to a point where he doesn’t think it’s wise for Minnesota’s salary cap.

Expect a lot of teams to pursue Byron Murphy Jr. on Monday if there’s no new deal in place, as Schultz suggests. He’s a good corner who can help a team win.

Minnesota is sitting on roughly $60 million in cap space after re-signing Theo Jackson.

Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.

K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on social media (Bluesky & Twitter). If you feel so inclined, subscribe to his Substack, The Vikings Gazette, for more great Vikings content.