Two days after cutting kicker Dan Bailey to save salary cap space, the Vikings cleared some more room by restructuring the contract of their veteran punter, general manager Rick Spielman said on KFAN.
Britton Colquitt, who was scheduled to make $2.45 million in 2021, will instead play for the veteran minimum salary of $1.075 million, saving the Vikings nearly $1.3 million in cap space. His 2022 salary remains at $3.25 million, as part of the three-year contract extension Colquitt signed last March.
"I love being a part of the Vikings family and am happy to help them get where they need to be in this difficult time," Colquitt said in a text to Adam Schefter after ESPN first reported the news. "Hopefully that also means playing for a Super Bowl title."
The move means the Vikings should have roughly $10.1 million in cap space before the start of the league year on Wednesday. They released Bailey once they were unable to come to terms on a restructured deal, and did the same with left tackle Riley Reiff on Wednesday. The NFL set the 2021 salary cap at $182.5 million per team, $15.7 million lower than last year.
