The Minnesota Vikings have signed veteran safety Harrison Smith to a 1 year, $12.25M contract reuniting the two sides for a 15th NFL campaign.
The contract can be worth up to as much as $16.25M if all incentives are hit. While the Vikings terminated Smith’s contract for salary cap purposes in March of this year, the 37 year old never formally announced his retirement. Minnesota didn’t make any splashy moves to replace Smith in the offseason, using a 3rd round pick to draft Jakobe Thomas out of Miami, and signing free agent Jamal Adams.
Aside from that, the consensus seemed to be that if Smith did indeed retire, the club would use a combination of Thomas, Adams, Josh Metellus, Theo Jackson and Jay Ward in Brian Flores’ defensive system. Unfortunately, Adams would be lost for the year due to a torn right quadriceps, while Jackson has been sidelined by a leg injury himself. Meanwhile Thomas missed much of the summer as a result of a back injury, leaving the team suddenly thin at the safety position.
Across 15 games for Minnesota last season Smith recorded 2 interceptions, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, 10 passes defended, and 54 tackles. The 6x Pro Bowler has spent the entirety of his 14 year NFL career with the Vikings after the team selected him 29th overall in the 2012 Draft out of Notre Dame.
Smith joins veteran defender Kyle Van Noy as late additions to the Vikings roster after the latter signed with the team’s practice squad earlier this week. He is tops on the Vikings’ all-time list in pick-sixes and passes defended, fourth in interceptions and fifth in games played.
The Vikings invested heavily on the defensive side of the football in this springs draft. After former GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah left the franchise in January of 2026, the front office opted to go with 3 straight defenders on draft night, selecting Caleb Banks (DL), Jake Golday (LB), and Domonique Orange (DL).
When Thomas gets back to full health, he and fellow rookie DB Charles Demmings figure to benefit from Smith’s leadership and tutelage as the season progresses.
Minnesota will now turn their attention to a Week 1 divisional showdown against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday September 13th at 4:25pm.
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