JULY 25: Joining Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith and Penei Sewell as 2021 first-rounders already extended, Darrisaw’s base value will fall short of Sewell’s $28MM-per-year Lions deal. The Vikings gave their left tackle a four-year, $104MM contract, according to OverTheCap. The contract includes $43.73MM guaranteed at signing, but Darrisaw is all but certain to add $13.29MM (his 2026 base salary) to that total. If Darrisaw is on Minnesota’s roster as of Day 3 of the 2025 league year, his 2026 base locks in.
This rolling guarantee structure, increasingly popular in recent years, also includes $8.38MM of Darrisaw’s 2027 compensation ($16.5MM) becoming guaranteed in March 2026, per Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. The Vikings also guaranteed $2MM of Darrisaw’s 2028 base salary for injury, with the rest of that money becoming guaranteed in 2028. This contract makes Darrisaw the NFL’s highest-paid left tackle.
JULY 23: Christian Darrisaw has landed a big-ticket deal with the Vikings. The left tackle agreed to an extension on Tuesday, as first reported by Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
This will be a four-year pact worth up to $113MM, ESPN’s Adam Schefter adds. Darrisaw will collect $77MM in guaranteed money, including $43.7MM locked in at signing. The offensive lineman still had two years remaining on his contract after having his fifth-year option picked up earlier this offseason.
This four-year extension will be added to the end of Darrisaw’s rookie deal, meaning the 25-year-old is locked in through the 2029 campaign. Considering general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah wasn’t in place when the Virginia Tech alum was drafted, there was some uncertainty regarding the timeliness of a potential Darrisaw extension. Ultimately, the two sides completed a deal with time to spare.
The 2021 first-round pick has established himself as one of the league’s top OTs while blocking for Kirk Cousins in Minnesota. Pro Football Focus graded Darrisaw as the second-best offensive tackle in 2022, and he followed that up with an eighth-place finish (among 81 qualifiers) in 2023. The lineman has missed 10 regular season games in three years, but he managed to get into a career-high 15 games this past season.
While Darrisaw still has a few years before the extension kicks in, the new deal will vault him up the list of the league’s highest-paid left tackles. The $77MM in guaranteed money is now the highest commitment at his position, and the extension’s $28.25MM average annual value would top Laremy Tunsil‘s $25MM AAV. Darrisaw still has about $20MM coming his way in the final two seasons of his current deal.
As the Vikings transition from the veteran Cousins to a rookie in J.J. McCarthy, the front office is assuring some continuity elsewhere on offense. McCarthy’s rookie contract has also allowed the organization to allocate finances elsewhere. In addition to Darrisaw’s new contract, the Vikings also handed wideout Justin Jefferson a lucrative extension this offseason.
While there’s a bit of uncertainty surrounding the offense moving forward, the Vikings can rest easy knowing their core is locked in. In addition to Darrisaw, Jefferson, and McCarthy, the team has Jordan Addison on his rookie contract and tight end T.J. Hockenson signed long-term.
Very good, not great tackle. But in this day and age of football offense, if you’re ever serviceable you’re paid as if you’re great.
Trevor Lawrence broke the market for everyone. If a player is even league average now then they’ll want to be the highest paid.
He was rated 2nd and 8th the last two seasons so you’re just factually incorrect.
He wasn’t the best, and misses time to boot. He is above league average, but almost no one that breaks a contract record is the best at their position. Breaking records to be the highest paid should be for only the best.
In a world where everyone hit the market at the same time, sure, but it has more to do with timing. Three years ago the cap had always been under $200 million. This year it’s $255.4 million.
Top 6-8 left tackle in the game and only just turned 25. My only question here is whether he can play a full season or if his tendency to get banged up is going to get worse.
Mayne this year he will finally get an all pro or pro bowl nod and earn this deal.
So we’re going to ignore that he was rated the second best tackle by PFF in 2022 and instead go by the totally objective nomination of pro-bowl nominations.
Not saying PFF is gospel, but let’s not act like Darrisaw is some undeserving scrub
I mean he’s not deserving of this deal, yet.