UDFAs' Pay Checks
Minnesota Vikings 2026 undrafted free agent guarantees
Story by Logan Ulrich, NFLTradeRumors.co
• 15h •
2 min read
Undrafted free agents sign standard three-year contracts that are worth whatever the minimum salary is in those years. In 2026, the standard UDFA deal is worth $3.1 million. However, teams are permitted to offer guarantees to aid their recruitment efforts in signing these players after the draft.
Like most contracts, typically guaranteed money for UDFAs comes in the form of either a signing bonus or a salary guarantee. Teams are restricted by a hard cap on the total amount of signing bonus cash they can offer to UDFAs. This year, that number was around $200,000.
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There is no restriction on how much salary teams can guarantee but typically you’ll see teams go for a few hundred thousand at the high end because that’s equal to what a rookie would make for a year on the practice squad. This money is also subject to offsets, which means if a player ends up on a practice squad for another team after his first squad cuts him, the first organization will get a credit for that money back on the salary cap.
Guarantees don’t guarantee an undrafted rookie a spot on the roster but they do tell us which players had a competitive market in post-draft free agency and which players the team has somewhat high initial expectations for. There are UDFAs who play important roles each and every season. For more on potential UDFA standouts from the 2026 class, check out our One UDFA To Watch From Every Team feature.
Here’s how the Vikings’ 2026 UDFA class stacks up. Data compiled from Over The Cap.
Player | Pos. | Total Guaranteed | Signing Bonus | Base Guarantee | Total Value |
Dillon Bell | WR | $272,500 | $25,000 | $247,500 | $3,125,000 |
Tristan Leigh | LT | $262,500 | $15,000 | $247,500 | $3,115,000 |
Monkell Goodwine | IDL | $257,500 | $10,000 | $247,500 | $3,110,000 |
Jacob Thomas | S | $160,000 | $10,000 | $150,000 | $3,110,000 |
Brett Thorson | P | $90,000 | $15,000 | $75,000 | $3,115,000 |
Delby Lemieux | C | $82,500 | $7,500 | $75,000 | $3,107,500 |
Marcus Allen | CB | $65,000 | $15,000 | $50,000 | $3,115,000 |
Luke Wysong | WR | $60,000 | $10,000 | $50,000 | $3,110,000 |
Tomas Rimac | RG | $55,000 | $5,000 | $50,000 | $3,105,000 |
Keli Lawson | LB | $50,000 | $10,000 | $40,000 | $3,110,000 |
Shaleak Knotts | WR | $25,000 | $0 | $25,000 | $3,100,000 |
Marcus Sanders Jr. | WR | $25,000 | $0 | $25,000 | $3,100,000 |
Arden Walker | EDGE | $2,000 | $2,000 | $0 | $3,102,000 |
Cam’Ron Stewart | EDGE | $1,000 | $1,000 | $0 | $3,101,000 |
Jacob Roberts | LB | $0 | $0 | $0 | $3,100,000 |
Kejon Owens | RB | $0 | $0 | $0 | $3,100,000 |
Tyreek Chappell | CB | $0 | $0 | $0 | $3,100,000 |
Bangally Kamara | LB | $0 | $0 | $0 | $3,100,000 |
Smith Vilbert | IDL | $0 | $0 | $0 | $3,100,000 |
Da’Veawn Armstead | CB | $0 | $0 | $0 | $3,100,000 |
Terrill Davis | WR | $0 | $0 | $0 | $3,100,000 |
Eye opening article connected to the one above. Sounds like some NFL execs thought before the draft that our new punter could go on day two.
“If you put a gun to my head and made me say if I’d put a first-round grade on him, the answer might be yes,” one longtime NFL executive said.
“No one is taking a punter in the first round… But I can see someone saying he could provide first-round value.”
...teams who have met with him love him and his metrics are off the charts and if nothing else there is a strong sense among teams I spoke to that he will be selected somewhere on the second day of the draft (second and third round).
“I don’t know that you can justify taking a punter above the third round,’ another personnel executive said, “but if that’s the threshold then he meets it. Maybe he even goes late second round. He has elite hang time and distance, and a lot of special teams coaches now seem to be getting more into that and not as much solely looking for the directional stuff… And he can do that too."
One general manager said: “It’s crazy to talk this way about a punter, but the Georgia kid might be kind of special. If you really need a punter, and you have a coach who wants to be able to flip the field, there’s value to having a great punter.”
"The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it”
Thorson is already 26 years old and will have to be a very good holder for Will to make the team. He's talented, zero doubt about it. Not sure you can stash a punter on the PS, some team will inevitably sign him to their active roster toward the end of the year. I think he's a camp leg and will be gone IMO.
StickierBuns wrote:
Thorson is already 26 years old and will have to be a very good holder for Will to make the team. He's talented, zero doubt about it. Not sure you can stash a punter on the PS, some team will inevitably sign him to their active roster toward the end of the year. I think he's a camp leg and will be gone IMO.
He will have to prove he can hold to win the job over master holder Hekker. But I wouldn't hold his age against him, considering many punters play into their 40s.
"The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it”
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