The Minnesota Vikings opted to tender linebacker Ivan Pace Jr., a restricted free agent, last month, and about six weeks later, the man has locked in his fourth season in Minnesota.
Pace Jr. won’t be going anywhere, signing his tender this week and adding depth to Minnesota’s 2026 linebacking corps.
It’s draft week, and Pace Jr. back in the fold means the Vikings don’t urgently need an extra off-ball linebacker, though one couldn’t hurt.
NBC Sports‘ Josh Alper wrote Monday, “Linebacker Ivan Pace has signed a contract with the Vikings for the 2026 season. Pace’s agents Drew Rosenhaus and Kyle Lincoln said that Pace has signed the restricted free agent tender the team used on him earlier this offseason.”
“The Vikings tendered Pace at the right of first refusal level, which would have given them a chance to match any outside offer sheet without entitling them to any compensation if Pace moved on. Pace is now set to make $3.52 million for the coming season.”
It’s worth noting that Monday’s development was the expected outcome, making the news a formality for most Vikings fans.
Eric Wilson’s rise to late-career stardom did Pace Jr. no favors last offseason. As Wilson gained traction, Brian Flores increasingly relied on him, rapidly shifting the depth chart and significantly reducing Pace Jr.’s snaps, quickly leading to his demotion.
Pace’s early struggles with missed tackles in 2025 created an opening, which Wilson capitalized on with steady, reliable play. Consequently, the team’s defensive rotation solidified. While Pace’s opportunities didn’t vanish entirely, they were less consistent.
The ripple effect was evident in the numbers. Pace’s Pro Football Focus grade plummeted to 42.3 in 2025, a stark contrast to the 77.1 mark he posted after starting 27 games across 2023 and 2024. Such a steep decline made Pace Jr.’s future in Minnesota feel up in the air heading into the 2025 offseason.
Despite this, Minnesota retained the advantage. As a restricted free agent, it’s easy to keep such players, and that’s what the Vikings did with Pace Jr., evidently betting on a resurgence.
The easiest way to think of Pace Jr. so far? Fantastic in 2023 as a rookie, decent in 2024, and forgettable in 2025.
Our Kyle Joudry wrote about Pace Jr. on Monday, “What has been discouraging is that Pace hasn’t fully been able to build off of that early promise. As a sophomore, Pace functioned alongside Blake Cashman as the LB2. Still a starter, Pace started taking a smaller bite of the pie, limited to a smaller percentage of the defense’s snaps.”
“With a cap charge sitting at $3,520,000, Ivan Pace operates in a middle-class range for NFL linebackers, albeit on the lower end. Essentially any path forward is possible, meaning an extension or a trade could occur. Or, perhaps, the Vikings let him function in a prove-it year to see if he can reclaim some former magic while demonstrating improvement.”
With Pace Jr. back in the mix, the Vikings don’t have to panic about ILBs in the draft. Here’s the group:
Wilson and Cashman will be 30 or older during the 2026 regular season. Pace Jr. will turn 26 shortly before Christmas. Minnesota picking an off-ball linebacker somewhere early in the draft cannot be ruled out, but having Cashman, Wilson, and Pace Jr. around doesn’t mandate it.
The Flores defense will just flow much better if Pace Jr. can turn the clock back to 2023.
Still, the Vikings, under former general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who has since been fired, made some curious ILB decisions down the stretch of 2025. The club drafted King from Penn State in Round 6 last year. Out of the blue, it released him in October. He stayed in the Twin Cities for about six months altogether. King remains with the New York Jets after New York grabbed him from the waiver wire.
On Keys, the Vikings scooped him from undrafted free agency — like Pace Jr. — and he contributed on special teams. But like King, the Vikings cut him on New Year’s Eve, and he was claimed by the Arizona Cardinals the next day.
Before too long, probably from the draft or undrafted free agency, Minnesota will need a couple of depth linebackers to replace King or Keys, making the case for dropping in the first place all the more confusing.
Flores’s defense ranked third in the NFL last year per DVOA.