Minnesota Vikings pending free agent safety Harrison Smith is heading into the offseason with with bookkeeping to do.
Last offseason he pondered his future and decided to return. Now he’s more than 12,000 snaps into his career, and there’s one more difference: “I’m older.”
Not only did the Minnesota Vikings lose brutally to end their season against the Los Angeles Rams, safety Harrison Smith received a fine from the National Football League of $45,020 for unnecessary roughness.
Vikings' Harrison Smith opens up on playing his final game in Brian Flores' defense next to Josh Metellus, Camryn Bynum in loss to Rams
Vikings veteran Harrison Smith admitted he's unsure about returning for a 14th season in an emotional locker room interview.
For a fun little thought exercise, let's go through every single Vikings unrestricted free agent and hand out a percentage of likelihood that they'll be back for another season in purple in 2025. These are going to be totally speculative estimations — and the beauty of probability is that I won't technically be wrong if I give a player a 10 percent chance to return and it ends up happening.
The Minnesota Vikings defense will look different after Harrison Smith retires but keeping new contributors will help.
A 2021 fourth-round pick, Bynum is coming off two impressive seasons under defensive coordinator Brian Flores. He totaled 233 tackles, five interceptions, 19 passes defensed, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries between the 2023-24 seasons.
Teammates described the relationship between Flores and Smith as like having two coaches in the room rather than coach and player.
Smith finished the 2024 season with 87 tackles (56 solo), including 1.0 sacks, 10 pass breakups, including three interceptions, and one fumble recovery across 16 regular-season contests. The 29th overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft,
Nov 24, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver Keenan Allen (13) makes a catch over Minnesota Vikings cornerback Shaquill Griffin (1) and after replay is ruled out of bounds on his left foot touching the line during the second quarter at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images
The Vikings need help on the interior offensive and defensive lines and in the defensive backfield. Can they find it in free agency?