Agents: Vikings to sign Jonathan Greenard to $72M deal

The Minnesota Vikings have agreed to a four-year, $72 million contract with Houston Texans free agent defensive end Jonathan Greenard, agents Drew Rosenhaus and Robert Bailey told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The Vikings also are adding former Miami Dolphins linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel on a two-year deal worth $20 million, including $14 million guaranteed, Rosenhaus and Ryan Matha told Schefter.

The agreements with Greenard and Van Ginkel come with the Vikings' top two pass rushers -- Danielle Hunter and D.J. Wonnum-- pending unrestricted free agents.

The Vikings also added Houston Texans free agent linebacker Blake Cashman on a three-year contract, a source told ESPN's Kevin Seifert. It's a homecoming for Cashman, who was born in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

Greenard, 26, has 23 sacks in his career but performed his best in a contract year last season. He posted career-highs in sacks (12.5), tackles (52), quarterback hits (22), tackles for loss (15) and games played (15).

He led the Texans in sacks as the defense set a franchise single-season sacks record (46).

Selected in the third round of the 2021 draft by the Texans, Greenard was also effective at defending the run game last season. He had the third-highest run stop win rate (37%) among ends with at least 200 snaps and a pass rush win rate of 22.4% (sixth highest).

One drawback for Greenard is that he has dealt with injuries in each season of his career, having never played more than 15 games in a season. He has played in 48 out of a possible 67 games in his career. But in his last 35 games, Greenard has totaled 22 sacks.

Van Ginkel quickly became a favorite among Dolphins fans in 2023, finishing with a career-high six sacks while filling in for injured starter Jaelan Phillips.

A fifth-round pick in 2019, Van Ginkel, 28, recorded 31 pressures and 13 disrupted dropbacks in 290 pass rush snaps. Although the Dolphins have Phillips and Bradley Chubb, Van Ginkel proved to be a valuable rotational edge rusher who is versatile enough to also play inside linebacker.

Van Ginkel signed a one-year extension last offseason after then-defensive coordinator Vic Fangio lobbied for his return to the team.

In his five seasons with Miami, Van Ginkel had 250 tackles, 17 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 2 interceptions and a defensive touchdown -- a 33-yard interception return in a victory against the Washington Commanders last season.

Cashman had a career-high -- and team-high -- 106 tackles last season, which helped the Texans' defense become 11th in scoring defense at 21.1 points per game. In Week 6, he earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week with 15 tackles, including two for loss, against the New Orleans Saints. He had a team-high 19 tackles in a Week 11 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

Cashman, who turns 28 on May 10, was also effective in coverage. According to Next Gen Stats, he allowed the fourth-lowest passer rating among linebackers with at least 200 coverage snaps when targeted (74.7) and had a tight window coverage percentage of 13.3% (10th).

The Texans acquired Cashman in a 2022 trade with the New York Jets, with whom he played 14 games over three seasons. He surpassed that total during his first season with Houston, playing 16 games -- with one start -- under former coach Lovie Smith.

Cashman's time with Jets coach Robert Saleh helped him, as Texans coach DeMeco Ryans runs the same defense as Saleh.

In five seasons, Cashman has 181 tackles (24 for loss), 5.5 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries and an interception.

ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime contributed to this report.

ESPN's Kevin Seifert, DJ Bien-Aime and Marcel Louis-Jacques contributed to this report.