The Minnesota Vikings must navigate the early portion of the 2025 regular season without wide receiver Jordan Addison, who is on the Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. He is suspended for the first three games, stemming from an arrest on suspicion of DUI in July 2024, but is clearly eager to return.
“3 be back soon,” Addison captioned a video posted to his Instagram story on August 30.
Addison pleaded down his DUI charge to a lesser one of “wet reckless,” but the NFL handed down what has become their standard discipline for cases related to substances of abuse.
“Everything is out of my control right now,” Addison told reporters in July in his first public comments following his arrest. “Whatever the league’s got for me, I’ll be prepared with whatever decision they make.”
The Vikings won 14 games in 2024 with Addison playing a key role.
Addison, the former No. 23 overall pick of the 2023 draft, posted back-to-back campaigns with over 60 receptions, 800 yards, and at least 9 touchdowns to start his Vikings and NFL career.
Jordan Addison Missing Games & Losing Money During Suspension
GettyJordan Addison #3 of the Minnesota Vikings warms up before facing the Houston Texans.
Police arrested Addison, who was asleep in his vehicle, outside of Los Angeles International Airport in July 2024. He was also cited for excessive speeding as a rookie in July 2023. Police accused Addson of driving at speeds up to 140 miles per hour.
Addison is eligible to return for the Vikings’ Week 4 road game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He will miss the regular season opener on the road against the Chicago Bears on “Monday Night Football” as well as home games against the Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals.
Addison will forfeit a significant amount of money with this suspension. Spotrac’s Michael Ginnitti posted on X in July that Addison stands to lose “$88,000 per game,” or $264,000-plus, and that “the full guarantee on his 2 years, $4.6M remaining would void.”
He is in the third season of a four-year, $13.7 million rookie-scale contract.
Addison will be extension-eligible during the 2026 offseason, and the Vikings must decide on his fifth-year option by May 2026.
Vikings Navigating Myriad Issues at WR
GettyJalen Nailor #83 of the Minnesota Vikings looks on against the Green Bay Packers.
The Vikings knew that the NFL’s discipline for Addison was possible, if not likely. But issues elsewhere at the wide receiver position add another layer of complexity for the organization. Their first game is just over one week away.
Jalen Nailor, who was supposed to step in for Addison, had surgery on his hand. The expectation is that he will be ready for Week 1, but his status is uncertain at this point.
The Vikings already lost free agent signing Rondale Moore for the season to a knee injury.
Justin Jefferson is also expected to play in Week 1, but he missed part of training camp and the preseason with a hamstring issue. He has seemingly been over that. But the Vikings’ only other WRs on the 53-man roster were rookies Tai Felton and Myles Price.
They have Jeshaun Jones, Lucky Jackson, and Tim Jones on the practice squad. Still, the Vikings traded for Adam Thielen to help ease the sting of losing Addison and their other issues.
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