EAGAN, Minn. — The Vikings on Thursday announced eight season-long team captains for 2026, including three who are assuming the honor for the first time in Minnesota.

The following Vikings have been selected via team vote (listed by group in alphabetical order):

Offense: Justin Jefferson, Aaron Jones, Sr., Kyler Murray, Brian O'Neill

Defense: Blake Cashman, Joshua Metellus, Andrew Van Ginkel

Special Teams: Andrew DePaola

Cashman and Van Ginkel were selected by Vikings teammates for the first time as each begins their third season with Minnesota. Murray will serve as a Vikings team captain for the first time; he was a Cardinals team captain every season from 2020-25.

A photo of this year's group will be placed in the "Jim Marshall Vikings Captains Legacy" display, which was created in 2024 to honor the 14-time Vikings captain who played every game of the franchise's first two decades.

Below is more information on each of the 2026 captains:

Blake Cashman (Defense)

Cashman shined last season in Purple and racked up a career-high 144 tackles, which are tied for the fifth-most in a single season by a Viking, despite missing four games due to injury. He logged 10 straight games (Week 8-17) with at least nine tackles, becoming the fourth player since 1994 to accomplish the feat. Cashman was the first to do it since Jerod Mayo for the Patriots in 2010.

The Vikings signed Cashman in 2024 as a free agent. The Minnesota native was selected by the Jets in the 2019 NFL Draft (157^th overall). He played for New York from 2019-21 and for the Texans in 2022 and 2023.

Cashman was elevated to captain status in Week 16 of the 2025 season.

Andrew DePaola (Special Teams)

DePaola, a captain for the third consecutive full season, handled all long-snapping duties last season and played in his 150^th career regular-season game in Week 15 at Dallas on Sunday Night Football.

Following the 2024 season, DePaola earned his third consecutive Pro Bowl nod — becoming the first long snapper in NFL history to do so. He has been selected as an All-Pro (First or Second Team) by The Associated Press in each of the past four seasons.

Justin Jefferson (Offense)

"Jets" started all 17 games in 2025, finishing with 84 catches for 1,048 yards and two touchdowns. In the Vikings finale against Green Bay, he recorded the 37^th 100-yard receiving game of his career (eight catches for 101 yards).

Jefferson has earned four Associated Press All-Pro nods (First Team in 2022 and 2024; Second Team in 2020 and 2021) and received Pro Bowl honors four times (2020-22, 2024).

Through his first six NFL seasons and 94 career games, Jefferson ranks third in catches (579), third in receiving yards (8,480) and seventh in touchdown receptions (42) in Vikings history. He is just nine catches away from passing Randy Moss for second in franchise history.

This is Jefferson's fourth consecutive season as a captain.

Aaron Jones, Sr. (Offense)

Jones started 12 games for Minnesota in 2025, his first season as a Vikings team captain. He logged 132 carries for 548 yards and two touchdowns, in addition to 28 catches for 199 yards and one touchdown through the air.

During the Vikings Week 13 game of 2025, Jones surpassed 10,000 career yards from scrimmage — becoming the 122^nd player in NFL history and the fifth active running back/fullback in league history to do so.

The Vikings signed Jones in 2024 as a free agent. Originally a fifth-round draft pick by Green Bay in 2017, he spent his first seven NFL seasons for the Packers. He received a Pro Bowl nod following a 2020 campaign in which he had 201 carries for 1,104 yards and nine touchdowns; the previous season, he racked up a career-high 16 TDs.

Joshua Metellus (Defense)

Metellus enters his fifth straight season as a full-time Vikings team captain. He started all 14 games he played in 2025, totaling 86 tackles, one-half sack, two interceptions, a tackle for loss and a career-high six passes defensed.

Selected by Minnesota in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Metellus started his Vikings career as a special teams stalwart but became a full-time starter in 2023 and has been a Swiss Army knife in Minnesota's defense. In 2023, he was one of five players in the NFL with at least four forced fumbles, 2.0 sacks and an interception. He also was just the third Viking in franchise history to achieve this stat line in a single season, joining Jared Allen (2009 and 2011) and Antoine Winfield, Sr. (2008).

Kyler Murray (Offense)

Murray enters his first Vikings season after seven in Arizona. The former 2019 No. 1 overall pick started just five games for the Cardinals last season before suffering a foot injury that sent him to Injured Reserve. He was 110-of-161 passing for 962 yards and six touchdowns, while logging 29 carries for 173 yards and a rushing touchdown.

Murray started all 87 regular-season games played for the Cardinals. He completed 1,974 of 2,941 pass attempts (67.1%) for 20,460 yards, 121 touchdowns and 60 interceptions with a 92.2 passer rating. He added 532 rushes for 3,193 yards and 32 touchdowns on the ground.

Brian O'Neill (Offense)

O'Neill is entering his ninth NFL season and sixth consecutive as a captain. He has started 120 of 124 regular-season contests and is a two-time Pro Bowler (following 2021 and 2024 seasons). O'Neill grinded through 2025 after suffering an injury during a special teams play in Week 4 in Dublin.

Andrew Van Ginkel (Defense)

Van Ginkel's leadership style is less vocal than some, but he sets an impressive standard by converting hard work and savvy into production. Since joining the Vikings in 2024, Van Ginkel has recorded 133 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, 18.5 sacks, three interceptions, two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble and two defensive touchdowns.

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