Aaron Jones and Javon Hargrave will be released by the Minnesota Vikings if they can’t find a trade.
As the NFL Combine continues to take place in Indianapolis and the focus is already shifting to the draft, there’s no shortage of other news around the league that will make an impact on the upcoming season.
And the latest report from ESPN's Adam Schefter indicates that the Vikings have informed running back Aaron Jones and defensive tackle Javon Hargrave that, barring a trade, they’re intended to be released at the start of the new league year later this month.
This isn’t overly surprising, given that the Vikings are more than $40 million over the cap. And while both of these guys have been key pieces for them, they’re also on the wrong side of 30 and making significant money. Releasing Jones would save nearly $8 million against the cap, while moving on from Hargrave would create almost $11 million in cap space.
Again, the important thing here is that they’ve been informed of the plan — the releases have not officially happened yet. Those transactions would be processed when the league year opens unless a trade materializes before then.
In the meantime, this is significant news for Minnesota. It’s not necessarily a shock, and it doesn’t fundamentally change the Vikings’ draft strategy, but it does provide another strong signal of what’s coming as they reshape the roster and work to become cap compliant.
From here, expect the Vikings to continue finding ways to improve this roster on the margins, gain more cap flexibility, and most importantly, figure out the QB situation.