Eric Wilson agrees to three-year Vikings deal on eve of free agency
Monday at 9: 10 a. m. ET, eric wilson reached agreement with the Minnesota Vikings on a three-year, $22. 5 million contract that includes $12. 5 million fully guaranteed. The timing matters: the deal was finalized just before free agency, locking in a veteran starter after a career-best 2025 season in Brian Flores’ defense.
For Minnesota, the move keeps continuity at linebacker after the team leaned heavily on Wilson’s near-full-time role last season. For eric wilson, it caps a resurgence that turned a one-year return to the Twin Cities into the most lucrative contract of his career at age 31.
Eric Wilson and the Vikings finalize a three-year, $22. 5 million contract
The Vikings’ agreement with Wilson covers three seasons and totals $22. 5 million, with $12. 5 million guaranteed. Wilson had returned to Minnesota on a one-year, $2. 6 million deal and then played a central role in the defense, leading to a significant raise and multi-year security.
Wilson’s workload was substantial. He played nearly 1, 000 defensive snaps across 17 games in 2025, finishing with 115 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 6. 5 sacks, and four forced fumbles. Pro Football Focus ranked him 44th among 88 qualified off-ball linebackers.
His production also stood out in specific areas. Wilson’s 17 tackles for loss led all off-ball linebackers in 2025 and ranked sixth among all players last season, while his 6. 5 sacks marked a career best. Another career high came in quarterback pressure, with 37 pressures described as a career best by a wide margin and seven more than any other off-ball linebacker in the league.
Minnesota’s free-agency timing and Brian Flores’ scheme drive the decision
The contract’s “why now” is procedural as much as performance-based: Minnesota completed the agreement on the eve of free agency, preventing Wilson from reaching the open market. The Vikings are choosing to secure a linebacker they relied on as a primary piece in 2025, rather than risk a bidding scenario days later.
Wilson’s fit in Flores’ system also shaped the timing. The linebacker’s role in Minnesota’s aggressive scheme leaned into his ability to attack downhill as both a blitzer and run defender, and the Vikings used him as a strong blitzing option throughout the season.
In the 2025 lineup, Minnesota paired Wilson with Minneapolis-area native Blake Cashman as its primary linebacker duo. Wilson replaced an injured Cashman after Week 1 and kept the job even after Cashman returned, a shift that reduced Ivan Pace’s role. The Vikings’ decision to keep Wilson now aligns with that 2025 usage pattern as Flores returns on a top-market coordinator salary.
Eric Wilson’s contract jump follows a 2020 tender and years of one-year deals
Wilson entered the NFL with Minnesota as a 2017 undrafted free agent out of Cincinnati and later played a full-time role in 2020 after the Vikings used a restricted free agent tender worth $3. 26 million (also cited as $3. 27 million) for that season. In 15 starts in 2020, he totaled 122 tackles. Yet his market thereafter remained modest: he signed a one-year deal with the Eagles, was cut months later, and was claimed by the Texans, followed by a Saints stint that ended with a release coming out of the preseason.
Wilson later joined the Packers in 2022 and signed consecutive one-year deals there, including a 2024 season in which he started 12 games but played a 51% snap rate as a role player. His 2025 return to Minnesota on a one-year contract changed the trajectory; the Vikings then elevated him into a 90% defender and a near-full-time starter, producing the season that set up this three-year agreement.
The next milestone for Wilson and Minnesota is the start of free agency, with the Vikings having already addressed one key roster question before the market opens. If the guaranteed terms hold as structured, Wilson and Cashman will remain Minnesota’s veteran linebacker pairing under Flores as the offseason continues.
