Vikings To Sign P Johnny Hekker
The Vikings boasted one of the league’s best punting units in 2025, but they were set to take a hit with the departure of punter Ryan Wright, who signed a four-year, $14MM deal with the Saints last week.
Minnesota has now found a replacement, and a good one at that. Four-time Pro Bowler Johnny Hekker is set to join the Vikings on a one-year deal, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Hekker, 36, is the most decorated punter in the league. He originally signed with the Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2012 and broke out in 2013 with Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors. That kicked off one of the more impressive specialist stretches in recent memory. Hekker added three more Pro Bowls and five All-Pro selections (three first-team, two second-team) in the next five years and was rightfully named to the Hall of Fame’s All-2010s Team at the end of the decade.
The Rams won the Super Bowl in 2021, Hekker’s last year in Los Angeles. He signed a three-year deal with the Panthers and set a new career-high in his debut season in Carolina with 48.5 yards per punt. The 14-year veteran saw some regression in the next two years and spent the 2025 season with the Titans, during which he averaged the fewest net yards per punt of his career.
In addition to his punting duties in Minnesota, Hekker will also become the holder in the Vikings’ kicking battery with kicker Will Reichard and long snapper Andrew DePaola. Reicard, a 2024 sixth-round pick, earned a first-team All-Pro nod in his sophomore season – like his new teammate – after making 33 of his 35 field goal attempts and all of his extra points. His only two misses came from over 50 yards, and he made another 13 kicks from that distance or longer. DePaola is in the midst of his own impressive run with three Pro Bowls and four All-Pro (two first-team, two second-team) nods in the last four years.
The trio will look to continue the Vikings’ special teams success into 2026 with the entire team hungry for a playoff berth after a disappointing 2025 campaign.
Saints, P Ryan Wright Agree To Deal
Ryan Wright will not remain in Minnesota after playing out his rookie contract there. He will instead become the Saints’ new punter.
Wright and New Orleans have agreed to a four-year deal, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. This will be a $14MM pact, he adds. Wright will collect $8MM in guarantees.
The Vikings used Wright as their punter for four seasons, but they will let him walk. As of Monday night, Minnesota does not have a punter on its offseason roster.
At $3.5MM per year, Wright becomes the NFL’s fifth-highest-paid punter — behind Jordan Stout, Michael Dickson, Logan Cooke and AJ Cole. The Giants reunited Stout with John Harbaugh on Monday, making the former Ravens specialist — at $4.1MM per year — the NFL’s highest-paid punter.
A former UDFA out of Cal, Wright will go from indoor confines in one city to another — albeit a much warmer locale. He finished last season with a 49-yard average per punt; that represented a career-best mark.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/9/25
With free agency less than 12 hours away, here are Sunday’s minor moves:
Denver Broncos
- Re-signed: LS Mitchell Fraboni
Minnesota Vikings
- Re-signed: P Ryan Wright
Both players were set to be restricted free agents. With the low-end tender costing $3.26MM this year, neither team appeared likely to tender their respective RFAs. Fraboni was not set to be tendered, per the Denver Gazette’s Chris Tomasson. Fraboni has been Denver’s long snapper for the past two full seasons, arriving during the 2022 season.
Wright has been the Vikings’ punter for the past three years. He averaged a career-high 48.9 yards per punt in 2023 and checked in at 46.5 last season. Wright will earn $1.75MM on a one-year contract, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets.
Vikings Release P Jordan Berry
The Vikings appear to have settled their punting competition. The team announced a pair of moves on Monday which includes the release of veteran Jordan Berry. 
The 31-year-old Australian went undrafted in 2014, but it wasn’t until the following season that he made his debut with the Steelers. He played in Pittsburgh for six seasons straight, with the exception of a brief stretch to begin the 2020 campaign. Overall, he averaged 44.4 yards per punt during his time there.
Last offseason, though, the Steelers permanently parted ways with Berry, turning instead to Pressley Harvin III. The led him to the Vikings, where he set a new career-high in gross average at 46.5 yards per punt. In spite of that, Minnesota will now turn to undrafted rookie Ryan Wright as their punter and holder. The Tulane alum punted 51 times last season, and set a new personal mark at an average of 47.5 yards.
As Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press notes (on Twitter), the fact that Wright carries a slightly lower cap hit ($707K compared to Berry’s $895K) and that he is nine years younger likely pointed the Vikings in the former’s direction. Wright will continue the recent tradition of introducing new punters on a near-annual basis in Minnesota, while Berry will once again look to find a new spot just before the start of the campaign.
With the roster spot opened up by Berry’s release, the Vikings brought back corner Tye Smith. The 29-year-old made five appearances with Minnesota last season, spending the rest of the campaign on the practice squad. He was among the team’s first round of roster cuts, but will now return for at least the immediate future.
Vikings Add Nine UDFAs
After adding 10 rookies via the draft, the Vikings have added nine more through free agency. The organization announced the signing of nine undrafted free agents:
- S Mike Brown, Miami (OH)
- WR Thomas Hennigan, Appalachian State
- RB Bryant Koback, Toledo
- LB Zach McCloud, Miami
- C Josh Sokol, Sacred Heart
- DT Tyarise Stevenson, Tulsa
- WR Tré Turner, VT
- LB Luiji Vilain, Wake Forest
- P Ryan Wright, Tulane
The Vikings were apparently eager to add a pair of defenders. According to Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com (on Twitter), McCloud will earn $250K in guaranteed money, including a $225K base salary. The Miami Hurricanes standout finished his collegiate career with 7.5 tackles for loss and five sacks, increasing his career numbers to 22.5 TFLs and 10 sacks.
Per PFF’s Doug Kyed on Twitter, the Vikings also gave Vilain $227K in guaranteed money. The linebacker had a breakout campaign after transferring from Michigan to Wake Forest, finishing the 2021 season with eight sacks and nine tackles for loss.