The Vikings secondary featured faces both familiar and new in 2025.

Minnesota appreciated the return of Harrison Smith for his 14^th season in Purple, and the team added veteran free agents Isaiah Rodgers and Jeff Okudah, the latter unfortunately seeing limited action due to injury.

Smith battled an illness throughout training camp but slowly ramped up and returned to the field for Week 3 against the Bengals. He continued to increase production and seemed to return to "vintage" Harrison Smith particularly through the second half of the season. Smith showed he's still got it and had an especially impactful game Week 17. "The Hitman" recorded three passes defensed, two tackles for loss, a sack and an interception against the Lions on Christmas Day, helping Minnesota sweep Detroit and earning NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Rodgers proved a valuable pickup for the Vikings, showing up early and forcing a whopping three turnovers against Cincinnati. He returned two of those turnovers for touchdowns, becoming the first player in franchise history to score multiple defensive TDs in a game; he also was the first player in NFL history to log an interception returned for a touchdown, a fumble returned for a touchdown and force two fumbles in one game. Rodgers was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week following the performance.

The Vikings brought back Fabian Moreau, who spent the 2024 campaign with them. He signed with the Niners in early August but was released as part of their final roster cuts; he joined Minnesota's practice squad the following day. Moreau appeared in 10 games and made an impact especially down the stretch. Analytics site Pro Football Focus highlighted the 31-year-old's consistency, giving him an overall defense grade of 71.4.

Byron Murphy, Jr., Joshua Metellus, Theo Jackson and Jay Ward all returned for another season in the Vikings defense.

Coming off a six-interception season in 2024, Murphy experienced a lengthy takeaway drought but snagged a pick in Weeks 16 and 17 against the Giants and Lions, respectively. Murphy certainly proved his durability, however, playing 1,046 defensive snaps — almost 100 more than the next closest defensive player (Eric Wilson played 965.)

Metellus delivered pregame speeches for his teammates throughout the season until landing on Injured Reserve with a shoulder injury following Minnesota's road win over Dallas. He finished his sixth Vikings season with two interceptions, a half sack and six passes defensed, a single-season career high.

Jackson, a 2022 sixth-round pick, has bided his time and contributed on defense and special teams over the past four seasons; he saw increased opportunities in 2025 after the departure of Camryn Bynum in free agency and recorded his first two career sacks in the Vikings final two games, showing the ability to finish blitz opportunities.

Speaking of increased opportunities, the Vikings leaned on Ward when facing depth challenges. He may have played "only" 248 defensive snaps, but that far exceeded the 35 and 28 he played in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Ward made five starts and allowed four completions on seven targets defensively and also contributed on four of Minnesota's six special teams phases.

The Vikings signed Thomas during the offseason as a free agent and utilized him almost exclusively on special teams, where he played on five phases.

Notable Numbers

39 – Smith finished his 14^th Vikings season with two interceptions, which brought his career total to 39. His regular-season total ranks fourth in franchise history behind Hall of Famer Paul Krause (53), Bobby Bryant (51) and Ed Sharockman (40) and just ahead of Joey Browner (38).

99.9 – PFF gave Rodgers a game score of 99.9 for his stellar Week 3 outing; it's the highest grade the site has ever given since it started grading player performances in 2006.

498 – Of Murphy's 1,046 snaps, 498 of them were run defense snaps, the most by any NFL cornerback in the league last season (according to PFF). Rodgers logged 440 such snaps, which ranked ninth most in the NFL.

A possible farewell?

"The Vikings are using a charged timeout to honor Harrison Smith."

Can't say this Vikings writer has ever heard an NFL official announce something like this in-game, and it created a memorable moment at U.S. Bank Stadium when the Vikings did, in fact, use their timeout specifically for that purpose. Minnesota already had been eliminated from postseason contention when entering the Week 18 Border Battle, but the game felt incredibly special for entirely different reasons.

The Vikings made sure to show Smith, along with fullback C.J. Ham, plenty of love throughout the game, should it be their last in the league.

Smith also was grateful for former teammates — who have become lifelong friends — who traveled to Minnesota and donned 22 jerseys to support him. The group included Anthony Barr, Xavier Rhodes, Anthony Harris, Andrew Sendejo, Jamarca Sanford and Mistral Raymond.

The Highest High

Forgive us for giving much of this article's real estate to Smith, but we think you'll understand.

The Vikings Week 17 game against the division-rival Lions marked one of Smith's most memorable career games … and he's had a lot of them over 14 seasons.

Within the first few minutes of the game, Smith's sack of Jared Goff hinted that fans could expect a big game from The Hitman. That takedown put the Lions at third-and-13. Detroit then completed a 10-yard pass to Jahmyr Gibbs and stayed on the field for fourth-and-3, but a false start penalty caused Head Coach Dan Campbell to opt for a punt instead.

From that point on, Minnesota's defense wreaked havoc on Goff and the Lions.

Smith later had a tackle for loss of Amon-Ra St. Brown, and in the third quarter he picked off Goff on a pass intended for St. Brown. He broke up a fourth-quarter throw on third-and-8, as well.

The NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors bestowed upon Smith in response to the late-season performance marked his third time winning the award.

The Lowest Low

The Vikings once again traveled to SoFi Stadium in Week 8, playing the Chargers nearly exactly one year after facing the Rams there.

And once again, the game didn't go as Minnesota would have hoped. The team struggled defensively against Justin Herbert and the Chargers, who ran up 37 points against the Vikings. PFF graded defensive backs Metellus, Rodgers, Okudah and Smith well in tackling, but a large contingency of Minnesota's secondary received abysmal coverage scores. Metellus (27.4), Okudah (30) and Smith (48.6) all scored under 50 for that phase of the game, and Rodgers received a 59.1 grade.

Herbert completed three touchdown passes and finished the game with a 122.8 passer rating. Ladd McConkey, Oronde Gadsden II and Keenan Allen combined for 209 receiving yards, and Kimani Vidal racked up 117 rushing yards.

2 Pressing Questions for 2026

1. Have we seen Smith's final game?

The Vikings Week 18 could be Smith's last in the NFL, but will it be?

Fans have grown accustomed to the safety making offseason decisions, and though he's admitted to pondering retirement after at least the 2023 and 2024 campaigns, he ended up each time coming back. Will that happen again?

As the years roll over, it seems less likely, but we've learned to "never say never" when it comes to Smith, who possesses a pure love for the game.

"Harry, he's a baller," Justin Jefferson said after the Vikings defeated the Packers. "I still don't think this is his last year. I still think he's got more [left] in the tank."

Time will tell.

2. What will cornerback depth look like next season?

It will be interesting to see what Minnesota's cornerback room looks like in 2026.

The Vikings last offseason ensured Murphy will remain under contract, and Rodgers also seems a lock to return for the second season of a two-year deal.

Okudah is set to be a free agent; will the Vikings bring him back after not getting a full sample size from the former first-round pick?

Moreau also is facing another free agency period if Minnesota doesn't re-sign him. He is getting "up there" by NFL standards at 31, but he played admirably and offers another solid veteran presence in the position group.

The Vikings didn't use any draft capital on a corner last year and haven't yet drafted a CB under the current regime that has made a significant impact. Selections from 2022 (Andrew Booth, Jr., and Akayleb Evans), as well as 2023 pick Mekhi Blackmon, are no longer on the team. Minnesota drafted the promising Khyree Jackson out of Oregon in 2024, but Jackson was tragically killed in a car accident just three months after realizing his NFL dream.

Will the Vikings go back to the draft in 2026 for a cornerback?

See the Vikings 2026 Opponents.

Check out the Vikings 2026 Draft Picks.

View future opponents for the Vikings.

Buy single game tickets.

Download the official Vikings App.