Another Pass-Rusher Becomes Available for Kwesi and the Vikings
Despite a relatively short tenure as Vikings GM, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has a long list of in-season acquisitions meant to improve Minnesota’s roster.
Adofo-Mensah swung a trade deadline move last year to bring in TE T.J. Hockenson, giving Kirk Cousins another pass-catching option. This year, the Vikings have traded for RB Cam Akers and signed IOL Dalton Risner. If interested, there is another intriguing option for the Vikings that recently opened up. Pass-rusher Randy Gregory was released by the Denver Broncos on Wednesday morning and is now available to any team in free agency.
Another Pass-Rusher Becomes Available
Adam Schefter of ESPN reported the news, tweeting, “Sources: Broncos are releasing LB Randy Gregory. The team wants to focus on young players. Gregory will be a free agent.”
Gregory, 30, signed a massive five-year contract worth $69.5 million with Denver during the 2022 offseason, so the release is just further confirmation that things in Denver have gone completely off the rails.
The pass-rusher has played in all four games for Denver to this point, including three starts. However, his statistics have been a bit underwhelming with just 9 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and a single sack to his name.
Gregory’s best years came with the Dallas Cowboys, who selected him in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft. In 50 games while wearing the star on his helmet, he recorded 85 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 16.5 sacks, and 8 forced fumbles. However, due to suspensions for violating the league’s substance abuse policy as well as injuries, Gregory has never played a full season in the NFL.
Even still, the Vikings could always use another pass-rushing presence on their defense. Through four weeks, PFF has given the Vikings the second-worst pass-rushing grade in the NFL at 56.0. They rank only ahead of the Chicago Bears.
This ranking is backed up by the fact that Minnesota has only mustered 11 sacks this season, and five of those came last week against a poor Carolina Panthers offensive line.
Of course, despite this slow start from the pass-rushers, Vikings fans can take solace in the fact that Marcus Davenport was able to play his first substantial amount of snaps for the team. Through the first three weeks, Davenport had appeared in just four snaps because of an ankle injury. On Sunday against Carolina, he was on the field for 45 snaps and recorded his first sack as a Viking.
D.J. Wonnum also had his first strong impact for the Vikings in Week 4, recording a sack and returning a 51-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown. For both he and Pat Jones, though, the early portions of the season have not been great. Neither had a sack through the first three weeks of the year.
As such, it would make sense for the Vikings to explore Gregory as another rotational piece for their defensive front. In Week 5, Minnesota will play host to the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs at U.S. Bank Stadium.
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.
