Regardless of whether the Vikings re-sign the actual Tom Johnson, they will spend free agency this month looking for the next Tom Johnson.

More than a week into free agency last year, Minnesota signed the under-the-radar Johnson to a minimum one-year contract with a bunch of incentives. The defensive tackle proved to be quite the bargain, finishing second on the team with 6-1/2 sacks.

Johnson is bound for free agency now, and the three- or four-year contract his agent said he wants might be too pricey for the Vikings. In the meantime, general manager Rick Spielman more than once recently said he’s hoping to find another Johnson-type player in free agency. But the Vikings won’t rush into anything.

“Tom Johnson last year, we were patient, and he came in and did a nice job for us as an inside nickel rusher,” Spielman said. “A lot of times, if you can, you sit back and hopefully let the market settle a little bit.”

Teams can begin talking with free agents’ representatives Saturday. But contracts can’t be signed until the new league year begins Tuesday.

The Vikings say they will not spend big bucks on one player. That’s a change from last year when they handed out three deals averaging more than $5 million per season, signing defensive tackle Linval Joseph away from the New York Giants for $31.25 million over five years and re-signing defensive end Everson Griffen for $42.5 million over five years and quarterback Matt Cassel for $10.5 million over two.

The Vikings announced this week that Cassel will be traded to Buffalo on Tuesday. That means they will be looking for a quarterback to back up Teddy Bridgewater for less money than what Cassel got.

“You use free agency to try to plug in a couple of holes here a bit,” said Mike Zimmer, coming off his first year as Vikings coach after a long run as Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator. “I don’t believe we’re going to go out and pay some guy a whole bunch of money. Like when I was in Cincinnati and a lot of places, we would kind of go with the lower end of free agents, kind of coach them and hope they fit in the system.”

In other words, the Vikings will be looking for guys like Johnson.

Minnesota actually began to target Johnson in 2011, when he left the Canadian Football League to join New Orleans for what would be a three-season run.

“(Assistant general manager) George Paton really was the one who was kind of on him since he came down from Canada,” said Johnson’s agent, Bardia Ghahremani.

Spielman said the Vikings would need to decide at various positions whether to bring in an outsider or focus on developing a young player already on the roster.

It helps the Vikings that not many of their significant players are free agents. That’s unlike last year, when Griffen and Cassel had to be re-signed, and defensive linemen Jared Allen and Kevin Williams were key free agents who departed and had to be replaced.

“Having a lot of guys back allows us to be able to go into another year with each other and really build camaraderie and that cohesiveness in the locker room,” defensive end Brian Robison said.

The Vikings’ list of free agents is headed by Johnson, guard Joe Berger and middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley, the only full-time starter who is a free agent, excluding recently released guard Charlie Johnson. They are all unrestricted, along with quarterback Christian Ponder, guard Vlad Ducasse, long snapper Cullen Loeffler, defensive end Corey Wootton and fullback Jerome Felton, who opted out of his contract.

Minnesota’s restricted free agents are running back Matt Asiata and offensive tackle Mike Harris. Exclusive-rights free agents are linebacker Dom DeCicco and guard Josh Samuda.

If the Vikings want to splurge on some players, it would be possible, considering they are $21 million under their salary cap of $149 million. That amount could increase if running back Adrian Peterson, who counts for $15.4 million under the cap, were traded.

Peterson, who missed 15 games last season because of a child-abuse incident, is disgruntled because he doesn’t believe some in the organization did enough last season to get him back on the field. Zimmer said last month the Vikings wouldn’t look for a running back in free agency, but that was before the level of Peterson’s discontent became known.

With that in mind, running back now goes on the list of positions the Vikings will consider beefing up during free agency:

Quarterback: Unless Ponder is surprisingly re-signed, Minnesota will look outside for a backup to Bridgewater. Among those on the market are former Vikings Tarvaris Jackson and Shaun Hill and Matt Moore, who was a good mentor in Miami backing up Ryan Tannehill.

Linebacker: Replacements could be needed for Brinkley in the middle and aging Chad Greenway on the outside. Brandon Spikes, coming off a one-year deal with Buffalo, could be a candidate in the middle. On the outside, Atlanta’s Sean Weatherspoon could be worth a risk despite missing all of last season with a ruptured Achilles.

Guard: The Vikings need a replacement for Charlie Johnson. Clint Boling was solid in Cincinnati, where Zimmer got to look at him plenty, but he could command more money than Minnesota wants to pay.

Cornerback: Zimmer loves Xavier Rhodes, but he isn’t enthralled with his other players at the spot, namely Captain Munnerlyn and Josh Robinson. Green Bay has a pair of free-agent cornerbacks in Davon House and Tramon Williams. Plenty of former Packers have ended up in Minnesota.

Defensive end: With Wootton not being the answer last year and Robison having an off year, the Vikings need some help here. While many Minnesota defensive linemen have moved to Seattle over the years, perhaps Seahawks free agent O’Brien Schofield could go the other way.

Running back: The Vikings’ hope is that Peterson returns and a search for his eventual replacement is confined to the draft. If the Peterson situation is deemed not salvageable, let the mad scramble begin. Following DeMarco Murray, who is looking for huge dollars, those in the next tier of backs (Mark Ingram, Ryan Matthews, C.J. Spiller) will command much more modest money.

Follow Chris Tomasson at twitter.com/christomasson.