Minnesota Vikings legend Harrison Smith has sealed a shock return to the team just a week before their NFL season gets underway.

The 37-year-old safety was out of contract with the Vikings at the end of last season and was in no rush to make a decision on his future.

But now the six-time Pro Bowl selection is back for Kevin O’Connell’s team for what will be his 15th NFL season after agreeing to a one-year, $12.25 million contract on Saturday night.

He will once again be crucial to Brian Flores’ defense, especially when the Vikings open the season against the Green Bay Packers in a huge NFC North showdown. 

Smith appeared in 15 games last season, recording 10 passes defended, two interceptions, a forced fumble and a sack. 

He has spent his entire NFL career with the Vikings, who selected him with the No. 29 pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. 

Minnesota Vikings legend Harrison Smith has sealed a shock return to the team on a $12m deal

The six-time Pro Bowl selection is back for Kevin O’Connell’s team ahead of the new season

The Vikings also signed 13-year veteran outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy to their practice squad earlier this week, adding some needed depth and experience at the edge rusher position.

Van Noy, who was a free agent after playing the last three seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, agreed to join the Vikings on Tuesday night after visiting team headquarters. 

That he’s on the practice squad now means little for his ultimate role, given teams may elevate two players per game to the active roster.

‘We’re really lucky to have a player of his caliber join us,’ general manager Nolan Teasley said Wednesday.

Van Noy, who joins his fifth team in seven years, has 57 sacks in 173 career regular-season games after playing primarily on the inside earlier in his career. 

He earned his first Pro Bowl selection in 2024 with a career-high 12.5 sacks, but his productivity waned in 2025 as the Ravens defense often leaked. He had just two sacks.

Still, the 35-year-old Van Noy should provide a boost for a Vikings team with a largely unproven depth chart behind a dynamic set of starters in Andrew Van Ginkel and Dallas Turner.

Jonathan Greenard was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for salary-cap savings in April, and second-year prospect Tyler Batty suffered a season-ending knee injury in the last exhibition game on Friday.