{"id":536539,"date":"2026-03-21T10:36:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T10:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/536539\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T10:36:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T10:36:15","slug":"vikings-add-ot-depth-sign-ryan-van-demark-to-one-year-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/536539\/","title":{"rendered":"Vikings add OT depth, sign Ryan Van Demark to one-year deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kevin SeifertMar 20, 2026, 03:38 PM ET<\/p>\n

Close<\/a>Kevin Seifert is a staff writer who covers the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL at ESPN. Kevin has covered the NFL for over 20 years, joining ESPN in 2008. He was previously a beat reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Washington Times. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia.<\/p>\n

Multiple Authors<\/p>\n

EAGAN, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings<\/a> added offensive tackle Ryan Van Demark<\/a> on Friday, giving them important depth after both of their starting tackles dealt with injuries in 2025.<\/p>\n

Van Demark was a restricted free agent after spending most of his career with the Buffalo Bills<\/a>, who had tendered him at the lowest level. That gave the Bills the right of first refusal on the Vikings’ one-year, $4.2 million fully-guaranteed offer sheet, but on Friday the Bills sent word that they would decline to match. The Bills will not receive compensation, according to ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Picks<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

1 Related<\/p>\n

Starting left tackle Christian Darrisaw<\/a> missed seven games last season as he worked through the final stages of recovery from two torn ligaments in his left knee, originally suffered in October 2024. Of the 10 games Darrisaw did play in 2025, he left five early as part of his recovery process. The Vikings shut him down in Week 16 and placed him on injured reserve Dec. 19.<\/p>\n

After the season, former general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said the Vikings would need to be “more mindful” of having insurance behind him in 2026.<\/p>\n

Right tackle Brian O’Neill<\/a> missed three games while dealing with various ailments as well.<\/p>\n

Undrafted out of Connecticut<\/a>, Van Demark spent the 2022 season on the Bills’ practice squad and went on to start six games over the ensuing three seasons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kevin SeifertMar 20, 2026, 03:38 PM ET CloseKevin Seifert is a staff writer who covers the Minnesota Vikings…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-536539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}