Former Vikings Corner Continues NFL Journey in Search of Next Gig
Kris Boyd was a solid depth corner for the Vikings from 2019-22. When his contract expired, though, the Vikings decided to move on. In so doing, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah continued shifting the roster away from the Rick Spielman era.
The former Vikings corner then got a shot with the Arizona Cardinals. The fit made a lot of sense given that Jonathan Gannon is now the head coach in the desert. After all, Gannon used to be a defensive backs coach for Mike Zimmer. After four weeks, Gannon and the Cardinals decided to move on from Boyd, so the 2019 7th-round selection has been looking for work ever since.
Kris Boyd, The Former Vikings Corner Looking for Work
According to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson, Kris Boyd went to Tennessee for a workout: “#Titans worked out Kris Boyd, Marlon Davidson, JoJo Domann, Joseph jones, Lachavious Simmons, Josh Thompson and Jonathan Ward.”
Previously, Boyd had a shot to impress the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Clearly, the Bucs didn’t make it a top priority to sign the 27-year-old CB, but that doesn’t mean the door is firmly shut in Florida. Todd Bowles may give the CB a call if an injury opens a spot at corner and/or on special teams.
Indeed, that’s really what Boyd has to offer teams. He’ll come in as a depth corner who will offer some great hustle and physicality on special teams.
He has played in 62 games in his NFL career but only has 6 starts. The 2020 season featured a pile of injuries in Minnesota, opening the door for Boyd to pick up 5 starts while being on the field for 343 defensive snaps. He accumulated 34 tackles and a pair of PDs during that season, but his coverage numbers weren’t always flattering.
Nearly 72% of passes thrown into his coverage in 2020 went for completions. The 14.2 yards-per-completion average isn’t stellar, and neither is the 121.4 passer rating from QBs when going after him in coverage.
Add it all together and Boyd has picked up 636 snaps on defense. The special teams total far exceeds that amount: a total of 1,131 snaps in his career. While employed in Arizona, Kris Boyd was exclusively a special teams player, picking up 63 snaps on specials and 0 on defense.
According to Over the Cap, the corner has made a touch below $4.3 million in his career. The most recent deal was for a single season with payment sitting at $1,232,500. In other words, any team that signs Boyd won’t have to break the bank to do so.
Keep an eye on Tampa Bay and Tennessee for a potential deal involving Boyd. A reunion in Minnesota seems very unlikely, but stranger things have happened. Bringing him back to Eagan would only occur if injuries necessitated an addition. A lot of the chatter currently revolves around who could be acquired via trade, but there’s something to be said about avoiding shipping out draft capital to instead pickup someone from free agency.
Expect a team to sign him before the end of the year. Only 27, the defender is capable of offering strong special teams play for a team in need of a physical tackler with hustle.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.