Vikings GM speaks on Andrew Van Ginkel extension, Dallas Turner's role

The Vikings accomplished an important piece of business on Tuesday when they signed outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel to a one-year contract extension that gives him a nice raise and keeps him in Minnesota through the 2026 season.

Van Ginkel signed a two-year, $20 million deal with the Vikings last offseason, only about half of which was guaranteed, to come over and reunite with Brian Flores after five seasons with the Dolphins. He proceeded to have an unbelievable season, stuffing the stat sheet and being recognized with a Pro Bowl selection, second team All-Pro honors, and a seventh-place finish in defensive player of the year voting.

Signing Van Ginkel to this extension not only keeps him from being ticketed for free agency next spring, it rewards him for his stellar play with $23 million in new money, which will be spread out over this season and the following one.

"In free agency (last year), we actually tried to sign him to a three-year deal," GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah told KFAN's Paul Allen on Wednesday. "There was another team that came in and offered a two-year deal that we had to compete with. You always want the longer-term deal as much as possible, knowing that if he plays well, this is the type of thing you're gonna be able to do. We were excited to add a year and really, to reward him for the year he had so he would make more money this year."

That was the same message echoed by head coach Kevin O'Connell in an interview with Kay Adams.

"I can remember Brian Flores and I sitting in my office after the 2023 season, talking about bringing a guy like Andrew Van Ginkel to Minnesota, what his fit would be in our defense, what the master plans were from Flo and his staff," O'Connell said. "And then watching it play out with him being a second-team All-Pro, Pro Bowl starter, so many impactful plays, and really such a perfect fit. We felt it was the right thing to do, based on his performance last year. He was still under contract for this year, but we felt it was fitting for Gink to not only know he's going to be here beyond this season, but make sure he felt appreciated for taking a risk, coming to Minnesota, signing with us a year ago."

Van Ginkel proved to be a perfect fit for the Vikings' defense. He had a career-high 11.5 sacks as a pass-rusher, made impact plays in the run game, and was highly disruptive when dropping into coverage. He led the league with two pick-sixes and nearly had a couple others. His presence figures to dissuade teams from throwing any screen passes to his side of the field in future years. The Vikings are excited to have Van Ginkel — who turns 30 in July — in Minnesota for at least two more years.

"You always want to have foundational players, we call them program players, that meet the needs of your culture, meet the needs of your scheme fits," Adofo-Mensah said.

One thing that's worth noting: Van Ginkel's extension doesn't say anything negative whatsoever about how the team views 2024 first-round pick Dallas Turner and his future. For as long as Van Ginkel and fellow Pro Bowl OLB Jonathan Greenard are around and healthy, Turner won't have a path to a true starting role, but that doesn't mean he can't see the field quite a bit. The Vikings can use that trio in a rotation on the edge, and they can also play all three at the same time, whether that means one is lining up as an interior pass-rusher or at off-ball linebacker.

With Pat Jones II departing in free agency, the path is there for Turner to play 30-35 snaps a game. The Vikings have high hopes for him in his second season.

"We're excited about that group," Adofo-Mensah said. "Dallas, we think is going to play incredibly well this year. Part of the reason when we drafted Dallas, we already had Van Ginkel and Greenard, and we knew we'd be able to play them together just because of their versatility, Van Ginkel's ability to play linebacker. Dallas has the mental ability to play linebacker and did some of that at Alabama. The ability to get them three on the field at the same time, but also, that's an edge group where you want them firing off the ball, you don't want them necessarily playing high into the 90 percent play time, so there's gonna be space in a rotation as well."