Vikings UFA profile: LB Troy Dye

• Age: 27
• 2023 stats: 17 tackles, 1 sack, 1 FF
• 2023 contract AAV: $993K

After a stellar four-year career at Oregon, Troy Dye was selected by the Vikings in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL draft. The production he delivered over the course of his rookie contract was roughly what you'd expect from a fourth-round pick. Dye started eight games and played just over 400 defensive snaps across four years, with half of those coming in his debut season. He saw an uptick in playing time late this season due to Jordan Hicks' injury and picked up his first career sack in December. Overall, he's been a backup linebacker who has made some plays in the preseason but has never carved out a major defensive role during the regular season.

Where Dye has really provided value to the Vikings is on special teams. He's finished in Minnesota's top three players in terms of special teams snaps in each of the last three seasons, totaling nearly 1,100 reps in that phase during his Vikings tenure. Dye has graded well on special teams too, and he had a key fumble recovery in a 2022 game against the Cardinals.

Dye will be an important special teams contributor for whichever team signs him to his second NFL contract. Maybe that'll be the Vikings — Hicks, Anthony Barr, and Nick Vigil are also free agents — but maybe Dye will look for a fresh start elsewhere. At 27, there's still a chance he could carve out a bigger role for himself at linebacker in the coming years.