Minnesota Vikings coordinator Brian Flores has helped defensive players flourish in Minnesota — and that’s leading to a “tricky’ contract situation with starting safety Camryn Bynum.
KSTP’s Darren Wolfson originally reported that there was “mutual interest” in extending Bynum during the summer. But after the Vikings awarded defensive tackle Harrison Phillips an extension on September 10, they appear to be closing up shop for contract negotiations with the 2024 season underway.
Wolfson previously projected that Bynum, Pro Football Focus’ 14th-ranked safety in 2023, could garner a contract on par with Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney — a four-year, $67 million deal — if he puts together another impressive year.
Whether the new Vikings regime is willing to shell out that kind of contract at the safety position remains to be seen.
“I’d like to see Cam Bynum here beyond this year. There’s been enough dialogue on a contract extension but it was always a tricky one to get to the finish line before Week 1,” Wolfson said on a September 17 episode of SKOR North’s “Minnesota Sports with Mackey and Judd” podcast.
“You’re not using the franchise tag on Cam Bynum, but I’d like to find a way to bring him back. It might be a little unrealistic, even with all the cap space the Vikings have [in 2025], just because you’re not going to invest that heavily, in that position.”
The Vikings are poised to splurge next offseason with $65.9 million in expected cap space to spend — but there are needs elsewhere.
The Vikings’ entire starting cornerback group — Byron Murphy Jr., Shaquill Griffin and Stephon Gilmore — are all playing on expiring contracts.
In March, the Vikings pushed to land prized free agent defensive tackle Christian Watson, and the position will likely be emphasized again in 2025 free agency.
Camryn Bynum, the Vikings’ Heir Apparent to Harrison Smith
GettyVikings safeties Cam Bynum and Harrison Smith
Contractually, this is Harrison Smith‘s final season with the Vikings and potentially his career.
The veteran safety has remained cryptic about his potential retirement and admittingly won’t know until the offseason is over. Once the highest-paid safety in the league, Smith carries a $9.5 million cap hit on the 2025 cap sheet after the Vikings restructured his deal to keep him around this season.
That is a lot of dead cap sunk at the safety position, but a Bynum extension could make his first year more affordable while the Vikings carry that dead cap hit.
In 2023, the Vikings re-signed Josh Metellus, previously a special-teamer, last year before he seized one of the most productive roles in Flores’ defense. The two-year extension worth up to $13 million keeps Metellus under contract through the 2025 season. Over The Cap evaluated his 2023 performance alone to be worth a $13.2 million-a-year contract.
Metellus may be due for an extension by next offseason as well, which could complicate things in the safety room.
Overall, the Vikings have a stable of talented safeties that can take the reigns from Smith if he retires next season — but they’re going to prove more expensive than they’ve been.
Vikings S Cam Bynum Focused on a Super Bowl, Contract Later
GettyCamryn Bynum #24 of the Minnesota Vikings.
Approaching a contract year, Bynum addressed this summer that his focus was solely on competing for a championship.
“I expect a Super Bowl,” Camryn Bynum said on “The Insiders” on June 20. “I know everybody says that, and everybody should say that. But you look at the guys on the team, you look at the locker room, all the experience that we have. You look how much depth we have, especially on the defense. So many guys it’s almost weird looking around because you’re like, ‘OK, how are we all going to get on the field?’ There’s just so many ballers. You look at the offense. There’s a baller at every position when you look across the whole board.
“That’s why I’m confident when I say I expect us to be a Super Bowl team. And really, our preparation has to tell it all. You say that every year. Every team says that every year, but we have to put all these names and everything. We have to make it real.”
He’s proven prophetic so far with the Vikings defense ranking among the league’s best and helping the team to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2016.
Bynum has a strong case for an extension but prefers to let his play make the final decision for him.
“You look at it for sure and you get excited about it just because I know the work I put in to put myself in whatever position I have put myself in,” Bynum said. “But at the end of the day, all I can do is play football, all I can do is prepare for season and leave it up to my agent, leave it up to the staff with the Vikings to figure that out. I know they’ll make the best decision.”
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