Would Risk Outweigh Reward With an Early Byron Murphy Jr. Extension
Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
When the Minnesota Vikings signed cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. last offseason, fans all over the state were elated. Murphy was a high-end CB2 who showed glimpses of being a lockdown corner with the Arizona Cardinals. There were times when the Cardinals left Murphy on an island against the likes of Davante Adams and D.J. Moore, and he held his own. Murphy held Adams to two catches for twelve yards and a touchdown while Moore failed to reel in a single catch on three targets.
Here are all 6 of Davante Adams’ targets from Sunday. Byron Murphy lined up across from him on each one, and held Adams to just 2 catches for 12 yards and a TD. pic.twitter.com/r8ScZzy3FB
— Jason Hayes (@JasonHayesNFL) September 21, 2022
Naturally, Vikings fans were expecting Murphy to replicate his production from his time with the Cardinals. Murphy fell short of those lofty expectations, as his first season in Minnesota was mediocre at best. This can be attributed to the fact that the Cardinals had Murphy play 43% of his snaps in the slot, where he excelled. In Minnesota, he lined up on the perimeter more often and was usually tasked with shadowing the opposing team’s best wide receiver. This ultimately led to Murphy being picked on in coverage due to his shorter stature, resulting in a down year.
That being said, Murphy is primed for a bounceback year in 2024. The Vikings fortified their secondary with the addition of veteran cornerback Stephon Gilmore who signed a one-year, $10 million deal on Sunday. Gilmore was far and away the best available free agent cornerback and is still a capable starting option at 33 years old. With Gilmore and Shaq Griffin both starting at outside cornerback, Murphy is expected to move back into the slot.
That should lead to a much better season, and the Vikings may want to get ahead of a rebound and extend their cornerback early.
Extending Murphy now comes with some risk. For starters, the Vikings would be handing an extension to a player based on future projections, and not his recent performance. In 2023, Byron Murphy finished the season with a 58.0 PFF grade, the second-lowest of his career. Additionally, the presence of Josh Metellus, who played 37% of his snaps in the slot, diminishes some of Murphy’s value to the team purely from a financial standpoint.
However, one could argue that now is the perfect time to lock Murphy into a team-friendly contract while his negotiating leverage is at an all-time low. Murphy is entering his athletic peak at 26 years old, and he is a pending free agent. If he exceeds expectations in 2024, he’ll be entertaining several attractive offers in free agency and could sign elsewhere. We know that Murphy is willing to stick in Minnesota, as his camp has been pushing for a new deal, with the player openly telling the media his intention to stay.
“I don’t think I’m going anywhere. That’s my mindset,” Murphy said. “I want to stay here. I love this place. Like I said since I’ve been here, since Day 1, I fell in love. So I don’t want to go nowhere. I want to stay here for the rest of my career. Love these guys in the locker room. Love the culture, everything about this place is great. So I’m gonna try to work my ass off to stay here for sure.”
If Kwesi Adofo-Mensah doesn’t offer an extension to Murphy and he departs in free agency, it would be less than ideal for Minnesota, considering their lack of depth next year. Starting cornerbacks Griffin and Gilmore are both on one-year deals and are set to enter unrestricted free agency after the season. Backup cornerback Akayleb Evans only has two years remaining on his rookie contract, and the Vikings traded 2022 second-round pick Andrew Booth to the Dallas Cowboys for Nahshon Wright, who isn’t even guaranteed to make the roster at this point.
2025 is shaping up to be a pivotal offseason for the Vikings secondary. Unless Griffin and Gilmore play out of their minds, I highly doubt Kwesi will offer either an extension at this stage of their careers. It’s more likely he goes after a big-name free agent who’s about to enter their prime, such as the Atlanta Falcons’ A.J. Terrell or New Orleans Saints’ Paulson Adebo.
Remember, Minnesota did show some interest in former Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed before he was traded to the Tennessee Titans. If Kwesi was going big-game hunting last year, we can expect him to be equally (or even more) aggressive in free agency next offseason.
Although change is always inevitable in the NFL, and given the disappointing performance from Murphy last season, they have every reason to plan on turning over his spot on the roster a year from now. Still, with the cornerback situation primed for some instability, the Vikings should at least consider extending Murphy sooner rather than later to ensure there’s some level of continuity present in the Vikings cornerback room.
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