MINNEAPOLIS (AP) The Minnesota Vikings, strapped for salary-cap space, have terminated the contracts of two long-time starters: nose tackle Linval Joseph and cornerback Xavier Rhodes.
Friday’s moves clear more than $18.5 million off the team’s salary cap, with the free-agent market for now scheduled to open on Wednesday. The Vikings entered the offseason as one of the teams with the least amount of space in the league.
Joseph played six of his 10 seasons in the NFL with the Vikings, after leaving the New York Giants as a free agent in 2014. He was picked for two Pro Bowls, playing in 88 of a possible 96 regular-season games as one of the league’s best run-stoppers.
Rhodes, a first-round draft pick by the Vikings in 2013, became a full-time starter in his second year. He was picked for three Pro Bowls and was an Associated Press All-Pro in 2017.
Both players were scheduled to carry a salary cap hit of nearly $13 million in 2020. By releasing them, the Vikings will have dead money charges of $4.8 million for Rhodes and $2.4 million for Joseph based on the remaining prorated portions of the signing bonus in their last contract.
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