5 Vikings Predictions as April Gets Rolling

April is three days away, which means it’s draft month for the Minnesota and 31 NFL teams, one of the most suspenseful months on the football calendar — perhaps even more than some regular season months. Accordingly, let’s get some Vikings-themed predictions on record.

April could swing a few major Vikings storylines into focus.

The club is expected to win eight or nine games next season, which is pretty much what oddsmakers say every year about Minnesota.

Projecting the Vikings Developments Most Likely to Hit Next

Ranked in no particular order, these are Vikings predictions for April and beyond.

5. If Not Dillon Thieneman, the Vikings’ First Draft Pick Is a DT

There is a ghost going around, a ghost that changes every mock-drafter’s mock draft before it publishes on the internet. That ghost ghosts into the network and connects Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman to the Vikings, and the ghost is undefeated.

Yes, Thieneman to Minnesota is all over the place in late March, thanks to Thieneman’s fantabulous Combine showing.

It just seems to good to be true that every ghost has it right, so let’s predict this: if the Vikings buck the Thieneman trend, they will pick a defensive tackle in Round 1 or early in Round 2, depending on a trade, either Peter Woods (Clemson), Kayden McDonald (Ohio State), Caleb Banks (Florida), or Lee Hunter (Texas Tech).

4. The Vikings Sign DT Christian Wilkins or D.J. Reader

Brian Flores worked with Wilkins down in Miami to start Wilkins’s career, and in fact, the very first draft pick of the Flores era was Wilkins in 2019.

ESPN reported last week that “26 teams” have called Wilkins’s agent about a 2026 contract, though that feels like agent-driven fluff. If remotely true, Minnesota has an inside track to Wilkins based on the Flores connection. Flores spoke glowingly about Wilkins as recently as last summer.

The Vikings will add Wilkins and showcase him next to Jalen Redmond this fall. If it’s not Wilkins, nose tackle D.J. Reader will be the choice because of his more affordable price tag.

The Viking Age‘s Lior Lambert noted on the prospect of Reader to Minnesota this week, “Reader is one of the biggest names left on the open market. He’d be a legitimate difference-maker for the Vikings (or any club that signs him). Plus, his arrival in Minnesota would be even sweeter knowing it comes at the expense of their NFC North rivals, the Detroit Lions.”

“After spending the past two seasons with the Lions, Reader can remind them of what they’re missing and go over to the enemy. The Vikings present him with a unique opportunity to step into a meaningful role and exact revenge on Detroit twice annually. The Vikings can kill two birds with one stone by signing Reader.”

Reader is 6’3″ and 335 pounds. He’s a unit.

Lambert continued, “As a fifth-round pick in 2016 with a decade of experience in the league, Reader has seen it all. His knowledge and steady presence could do wonders for an incoming rookie. However, perhaps more notably for the Vikings, he also has plenty left in the tank from an on-field standpoint.”

“Turning 32 in July, there’s a possibility Father Time comes for Reader. Be that as it may, his 2025 efforts suggest that age shouldn’t be a problem yet, as he was PFF’s 30th-highest-graded interior defender out of 134 qualified options (68.9).”

3. Jordan Addison’s 5th-Year Option Is Locked In

Minnesota isn’t making this mysterious.

1. It let Jalen Nailor leave in free agency, refusing to match the Las Vegas Raiders‘ offer of $35 million over the next three years.
2. The Vikings signed zilch for free-agent wide receivers.

Had the front office used just one of those maneuvers, there might be real uncertainty about Addison’s fifth-year option. But they didn’t, and it’s wildly apparent that the Vikings believe in Addison. Hell or high water.

2. Jonathan Greenard Gets an Extension — Not Traded

After signing Kyler Murray two weeks ago, the Vikings, through their actions, showed they’re “in it to win it” in 2026. If they were not, they would’ve let J.J. McCarthy run the show and let the chips fall on his development.

“In it to win it” teams don’t sell premium EDGE rushers; they actually go out of their way to hoard them. While Greenard wants a handsome extension, Minnesota will realize he is not easily replaceable and pay the man.

Unless Greenard had fundamentally soured on the Vikings as an organization, it never made any sense whatsoever to trade him.

Greenard stays.

1. Harrison Smith Returns

These are the clues to indicate Smith’s return for Year No. 15:

1. He hasn’t retired yet; most retirees announce it by this point in the offseason.
2. Smith played his strongest ball in the final six weeks of 2025; he’s not washed.
3. Adam Thielen and C.J. Ham sent in retirement paperwork; Smith did not.
4. Kyler Murray is in the house, renewing the Vikings’ playoff and Super Bowl hopes.
5. The Vikings signed no safeties in free agency.

Perhaps Smith will stick around in 2026 to cross paths with the aforementioned Thieneman, the mock-draft favorite to be chosen by the Vikings at No. 18 in 25 days.