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Vikings Territory's Dustin Baker suggested Kevin O'Connell and the Minnesota Vikings could cut linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. before the 2026 NFL regular season.

Linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. lost his starting role with the Minnesota Vikings during the 2025 campaign. This offseason, he could lose his roster spot.

That’s what Vikings Territory’s Dustin Baker proposed as possible when he named Minnesota releasing Pace to his list of six potential Vikings summer surprises.

“There’s a world where Pace Jr. may not make the 53-man roster, believe it or not, if Golday is ready for action in Week 1,” wrote Baker. “Minnesota benched Pace Jr. early in 2025, and the cap hit to drop him this summer is quite low: $0 added in dead money.

“The Vikings could also rather easily sign a veteran linebacker like Bobby Okereke or Devin White while releasing Pace Jr., who struggled to tackle last season.”

The Vikings brought back Pace in restricted free agency this offseason. So it would be a little odd for the team to decide months later that the linebacker is expendable.

Pace returned on a $3.52 million tender.

But if released, Pace will not have any dead cap money. With no financial incentive to keep him, the linebacker clearly has to be one of Minnesota’s best options at his position to stay with the club.

Pace started at least 10 games in each of his first two Vikings seasons in 2023 and 2024. But last season, the team benched him in Week 7. He started just one contest after that.

Could Vikings Cut Linebacker Ivan Pace Jr.?

Pace joined the Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2023. He made the team in training camp and even started the second game of his career.

At that time, it appeared the Vikings had found a diamond in the rough. Pace posted 102 combined tackles, with two tackles for loss, nine quarterback hits and 2.5 sacks as a rookie. He was fourth on the team in tackles that season.

During 2024, Pace started nearly every game in which he played. In 11 contests overall, he had 72 combined tackles, including seven for loss, seven quarterback hits and three sacks.

But Pace’s play greatly deteriorated in 2025. At Pro Football Focus, he earned a 45.1 overall grade, including a putrid 29.9 grade in coverage.

Comparatively, he posted a 77.1 overall PFF grade as a rookie and 63 PFF grade in 2024.

Coming off the rough 2025, it wasn’t clear Pace would definitely be back in Minnesota. While he signed a new deal, the contract doesn’t include any guarantees.

Essentially, the Vikings have left open the possibility of cutting Pace at any point this summer.

Vikings LB Depth Entering 2026 NFL Training Camp

As Baker detailed, linebacker was a question mark for the Vikings in early March. But in addition to Pace, the team re-signed starting linebacker Eric Wilson. He will start next to Blake Cashman again in 2026.

During the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Vikings then added linebacker Jake Golday.

If Golday passes Pace on the depth chart during the preseason, Pace could stay on the team as a LB4. But that close to the roster bubble is obviously not where a former starter wants to be.

It could then become a question of whether the Vikings still want Pace’s experience or potentially a player with more long-term upside on the bench.

The Vikings also have linebackers Bangally Kamara, Keli Lawson, Jacob Roberts, Josh Ross and Andrew DePaola on the offseason roster.