ESPN Lists Cardinals CB as “Best Fit” for the Vikings in Free Agency
Josh Frey
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Free agency is still a few weeks away, but it’s still worth taking a look at some of the players that could be potential fits for the Vikings when March 15th officially arrives. ESPN’s Matt Bowen created a list of the top 50 free agents as well as the team that he considers to be their “best fit”.
The “best fit” for the Vikings according to Bowen is Cardinals CB Byron Murphy, who has spent his first four NFL seasons with Arizona and just recently turned 25 years old. Here is Bowen’s reasoning for this choice:
“The Vikings would have to make some moves to create more money on the salary cap, but there is a real need for coverage corners in Minnesota to fit the scheme of new defensive coordinator Brian Flores.”
“Only Detroit and Chicago allowed more yards per pass attempt than the Vikes last season (7.3). Murphy’s production took a hit this season — four pass breakups — but he did record four interceptions and 12 pass breakups in 2021. And he has the man-coverage traits to play inside or outside the numbers.”
ESPN’s Matt Bowen on Byron Murphy’s fit with the Vikings
Murphy is a popular choice for the Vikings. A couple weeks ago, I myself coined him as one of the top 3 cornerbacks that Minnesota should target in free agency. Here’s an excerpt from that article:
“Byron Murphy has had a few ups and downs throughout his early NFL career, and now, his rookie contract with the Arizona Cardinals is at an end. That being said, his highs have been elite in the first four years of his career.”
“The inconsistency makes it tough to predict what exactly his value will be on the open market. However, even if his price rises, the Vikings drastically need to fix things on the defensive side of the ball. If they want to do that, they need to go get a big name in the secondary.”
Then, our own Kyle Joudry also listed him as one of his top 25 free agency targets for the Vikings. Murphy came in 13th on that list. Here is Kyle’s reasoning for that ranking:
“He’s only 25 and was picked in the second-round of the 2019 Draft. He played 423 snaps out wide and 130 in the slot. He was limited to just 9 games in 2022. The year prior, Murphy played in 16 games. In 2021, he snagged 4 INTs, scored a TD, and added 12 PDs to go alongside his 64 tackles.“
At any rate, it seems that there’s one thing that all three of us agree on: the Vikings need to add cornerback talent in free agency. Murphy offers versatility, as Kyle points out, because of versatility to play both outside and in the slot. If he can get back to any semblance of that 2021 form, this would be a huge get for the Vikings when free agency rolls around.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. He also earned minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys marathon training, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his opinions, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.