Vikings Reach a 4-Year Contract Agreement with Their Fourth-Round Pick
After trading down from the 119th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings selected LSU defensive back Jay Ward. The versatile DB played four years at LSU, and in all, Ward recorded 162 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, 17 pass defenses, 6 INTs, 2 forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery over his time at LSU.
Now, it seems the Vikings have come to a contract agreement with Ward. Per Aaron Wilson, the rookie is signing a 4-year contract worth a grand total of $4.493 million. It also comes with a signing bonus of $653,544.
Taking a look at Pro Football Focus, the most intriguing thing about Ward is that he truly lined up all over the place with the LSU defense. While the slot cornerback role took up the largest portion of his 633 defensive snaps (230), he truly can play anywhere on the defense, also taking 178 snaps at the outside cornerback spot, 108 snaps in the box, and 104 snaps at free safety.
This type of versatility could prove to be very useful for a Vikings defense that is so unproven in the secondary. Outside of Byron Murphy, we really don’t know how the cornerback room will shake out this season. On top of that, 2022 first-round pick Lewis Cine is coming off a compound fracture in Week 4 of last season, and he saw very little playing time last season.
Ward is the second 2023 Draft selection that the Vikings have agreed to terms on a contract with this offseason. Last week, Ward’s former collegiate teammate and now NFL teammate, DT Jaquelin Roy, agreed to a 4-year deal of his own, worth a total of $4,179,772.
The Vikings still have four draft picks yet to sign this offseason. Those selections are WR Jordan Addison, CB Mekhi Blackmon, QB Jaren Hall, and RB DeWayne McBride.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.
