The Detroit Lions have become one of the biggest powers in the NFL, and their rise began when around the time they traded T.J. Hockenson to the Minnesota Vikings in 2022. The Lions finished the 2022 season by winning eight of their final 10 games after dealing Hockenson at the deadline and have an overall record of 44-17 with a trip to the NFC Championship Game in 2023.
While the Lions have thrived, Hockenson has fallen from the ranks of the league’s tight ends. That fall may be on the verge of continuing as the Vikings try to get out of cap hell this offseason and The Athletic’s Alec Lewis suggested that his time in Minnesota could come to an abrupt end if he doesn’t accept a pay cut.
“T.J. Hockenson’s cap number is the highest among all tight ends at $21 million. He won’t play on that in 2026,” Lewis said on Wednesday’s episode of The Alec Lewis Show. “The question is how far do the Vikings want to bring that down and how willing is he to go that far? If he’s not, that brings you to the tight end kind of questions.”
Former Lions TE T.J. Hockenson Hitting Rock Bottom Amid Pay Cut Rumors
Lions fans have a split opinion of Hockenson due to his comments immediately after the trade. When asked about reporters about coming to the Vikings, Hockenson called it his first chance to win in the NFL, which some took as a slight toward Detroit’s constant rebuilding state after he was selected with the eighth overall pick in the 2019 draft.
“That’s really what we’re here to do is go somewhere and win games,” Hockenson explained via Pride of Detroit’s Jeremy Reisman. “That’s kinda the first time I’ve been able to say that. So I’m pretty excited. I really am.”
Hockenson was part of a Vikings team that won the division in 2022, but also was the recipient of a game-ending 4th-and-8 checkdown from Kirk Cousins at the end of a Wild Card loss to the New York Giants. Hockenson also signed a four-year, $66 million contract that made him the highest-paid tight end in the NFL when signed in July of 2023, and he responded with 95 catches, 960 yards, and five touchdowns in his first full season with the Vikings. Things changed when Hockenson tore his ACL and MCL on a hit by Lions safety Kerby Joseph during a game in Minneapolis on Christmas Eve 2023.
Hockenson missed the first half of the 2024 season while rehabbing from the injury and saw his yards per route run drop from 1.89 in 2023 to 1.56 in 2024, according to Pro Football Focus. That number hit a career-low 1.05 yards per route run last season as Hockenson caught just 51 passes for 438 yards and three touchdowns for the Vikings last season.
While erratic quarterback play could be to blame for those numbers, Hockenson hasn’t looked like an elite tight end, which is why the Vikings are asking him to take a pay cut.
No matter what happens next, it’s another low point for Hockenson. The Vikings could trade Hockenson, but his $21.2 million cap hit per Over The Cap makes it unlikely another team would take that on. Hockenson could also be released, and while that could allow him to sign with a contender like the Philadelphia Eagles, who may lose Dallas Goedert in free agency, it would be a startling sign for a player who appeared to be on the rise in 2023.
Meanwhile, Lions fans are happy with the performance they got from Sam LaPorta in return and could be on their way to another successful season without Hockenson as he looks to put his career back together ahead of the 2026 campaign.