Vikings’ $15 Million Playmaker Poised to Leave for AFC Contender

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver K.J. Osborn has realized significant upside as a former fifth-round pick that leaves him likely to land elsewhere in 2024.

Selected in the fifth round of the 2020 draft, Osborn did not catch a single pass his rookie year but has since averaged 615 yards receiving and scored 15 touchdowns the past three seasons.

Osborn is set to reach free agency for the first time in his career in March. Considering his production and mounting needs elsewhere on the Vikings’s roster, Osborn is poised to attract offers that could price the Vikings out.

Pro Football Focus (PFF) considers the Cleveland Browns or Baltimore Ravens potential landing spots for Osborn.

“Osborn lined up primarily in the slot in 2022 and shifted outside in 2023. He’s a WR3/4 but has been productive in a very high-volume Vikings passing attack,” PFF’s cap expert Brad Spielberger wrote on January 31. “Untimely drops plagued him in 2023 but he’d provide solid depth for a lot of teams, and one has to imagine with the addition of first-round rookie Jordan Addison and the emergence of Brandon Powell this past season that perhaps Minnesota works a bit harder to retain the speedy Powell on a cheaper deal.”

Spotrac projected Osborn to garner a two-year $15.13 million contract worth $7.56 million a year in free agency, which is likely out of the price range the Vikings would want to spend for a fourth option in their passing game.