Report: Vikings Targeting Big-Name DE
The next 72 hours will be rough-and-tumble for the Minnesota Vikings and all other NFL teams as free agents swap home addresses.
Anthony Barr formally restructured his contract on Monday, slimming his deal from about $13 million to $10 million in 2021. And more moves may be afoot to expand the cap space. Players like Harrison Smith, Adam Thielen, and Kirk Cousins could be on the agenda to restructure in the same fashion as Barr.
Theorized offensive line target, Kevin Zeitler — who the Vikings explored in free agency a couple of years ago — signed with the Baltimore Ravens on Monday morning. Cross one offensive line asset off the list. Zeitler finagled a 3-year, $22 million with Baltimore.
Also to start the week, credible Vikings personalities affirmed the Vikings are seeing a “premium” defensive end per SKOR NORTH and Judd Zulgad.
KSTP‘s Darren Wolfson echoed the same sentiment on Sunday Night:
So, the takeaway here? Free agency is live and in the flesh — and the Vikings have fingered defensive line as a top priority.
The Names
Because this offseason is so strange from a salary cap perspective — the coronavirus trimmed the cap to $182.5 million instead of $208 million it was supposed to reach — more prominent players are available.
Among the names that Minnesota can explore at defensive end: Trey Hendrickson, Carl Lawson, Carlos Dunlap, Derek Wolfe, Bruce Irvin, Everson Griffen, Vic Beasley, Ezekiel Ansah, Romeo Okwara, Olivier Vernon, Ryan Kerrigan, and Leonard Floyd.
Now, the only distinction to determine is what general manager Rick Spielman considers premium. A player like Lawson would be gigantic for the prognosis of pairing with Danielle Hunter. Someone like Beasley would be more like a reclamation project and not so premium.
Regardless — There Is a Need
The Vikings ranked 32nd in the NFL via pass rush in 2020. Quite frankly, it cannot get any worse. Mike Zimmer’s bunch also recorded the fifth-fewest sacks leaguewide.
Michael Pierce, the aforementioned Hunter, and the recent acquisition of Stephen Weatherly will aid in returning the defensive line to supremacy — undoubtedly. That’s a mini-free agency as a standalone entity — the returns of those players.
Yet, if Minnesota wants to get be ostensibly better, pursuing a bonafide pass-rusher is in order. That’s probably why the franchise has reportedly listed it as the top priority.
Otherwise, the Vikings embark the pivotal on 2021 campaign with Hunter at LDE and a hodgepodge of RDEs: Ifeadi Odenigbo (perhaps, he’s a restricted free agent), D.J. Wonnum, Stephen Weatherly, and Jalyn Holmes.
If this is all smoke, then Spielman can turn to the draft to address RDE.