After the Vikings cleared roughly $10 million in salary cap space by trading Za'Darius Smith to the Browns, they used some of the free space to sign their first-round pick.
The team announced on Wednesday afternoon it had signed wide receiver Jordan Addison to his rookie deal, completing the contract a day after Smith had passed a physical to finalize his trade to Cleveland. The Vikings had previously signed four of their six draft picks, but lacked the cap space to complete Addison's deal until the Smith trade gave them added room.
Addison, the 23rd overall pick in the draft out of USC, is in line to make roughly $13.7 million over his four-year rookie deal, including a signing bonus of nearly $7 million. He would count for almost $2.5 million against the Vikings' 2023 salary cap, based on a $1.75 million cap figure for his signing bonus and rookie minimum salary of $750,000.
He is in line to play a significant role for the Vikings in 2023, after the team sought another receiver who can take attention away from Justin Jefferson. Coach Kevin O'Connell said at the Vikings' rookie camp last week that Addison had been meeting with Vikings coaches over Zoom calls after the draft, learning as much of the offense as he could before coming to Minnesota.
"He just looks the part, which is exactly what I expected out of him," O'Connell said Friday. "He's been champing at the bit to get going."
With Addison signed, five of the Vikings' six draft picks are under contract. Only UAB running back DeWayne McBride, the team's seventh-round pick, remains unsigned.