Vikings 2022 NFL Draft pick firmly on roster bubble should be safe for one pivotal reason

The curious case of Ed Ingram

When it comes to the Minnesota Vikings, they have one of the healthiest salary cap situations in the NFL. Over The Cap currently has the Vikings projected to have $63,332,543 in salary cap space, which currently ranks seventh in the NFL.

Due to the work that general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has done with the roster and salary cap, there aren't bad contracts on the books anymore with just over $10 million in dead cap.

One of the few cap casualties that could come around is right guard Ed Ingram. He is currently set to have a salary cap hit of $3,710,541. That feels high for an offensive lineman that just got benched during his third season. 

There are many fans and some media who want Ingram to get cut because they don't think he's worth it to keep on the roster. Ingram has become a very divisive player across the board and it's mainly due to his playstyle. He works like a heavyweight fighter. His movements are explosive in nature and it causes Ingram to miss blocks but when he misses, it looks catastrophic. 

When you take a look at his replacement Dalton Risner, his losses were slow and controlled. The appearance of the losses matters just as much as the losses themselves because perception is reality. It's one of the reasons why the Vikings decided to make a change.

When it comes to moving on from Ingram, the Vikings could save $3,325,000 with $385,541 in dead cap. It could give the Vikings a little bit of extra space to improve the roster on an overall level.

They can make the move, but would it be smart? I think the answer is no.

The reason is simple: Ingram is in the final year of a rookie contract and his salary isn't fully guaranteed. It only becomes guaranteed if he ends up on the roster for week one. 

Essentially, the Vikings can keep Ingram on the roster for the entire offseason hoping that they can extract more out of him in the final year of his deal. If he doesn't take that leap, they can cut him at final cuts without losing any cap space.

Adofo-Mensah did that with Armon Watts in his first year as the general manager, cutting him at final cuts. They should do the same thing with Ingram because it's worth seeing if he can take his game up a notch. 

If he doesn't, no harm no foul and they can move on for no extra cost.