And Then There Was 1: The Vikings Have a Single Unsigned FA Corner
The Vikings have a major need at corner.
The CB room is depleted, containing a mere 5 people. Before training camp arrives, the total should double.
Despite the obvious need for more bodies, the Vikings seem perfectly content to slow play things. One of their own – Kris Boyd – is now employed in the desert. That last man standing is slot corner Chandon Sullivan, and there’s very little indication we’ll see him brought back before the NFL Draft.
The Vikings Have a Corner Need
The Boyd situation is one that PurplePTSD has considered on a couple different occasions. A hard-hitting special teams star who struggles in coverage, Boyd could reasonably be a team’s CB5/6. There was some belief he could return to resume his role on special teams and to fortify the depth in the secondary.
A 7th-round selection in 2019, Boyd has mostly been special teams terror. He’s aggressive and moves well, so he can fly down the field as a gunner on punt team and a tackler on kickoff. He ran a 4.45 forty; his speediness has long been evident.
In late March, Darren Wolfson of KSTP reported that Boyd was visiting with the Giants. The potential deal in New York, quite evidently, didn’t materialize. Instead, he’ll be joining forces with Jonathan Gannon to try to get the Cardinals moving in the right direction.
Meanwhile, Chandon Sullivan is facing some employment issues. Still unsigned, the former Packer and Viking could function as competition for the slot opening on a team that doesn’t yet have the position nailed down.
Truth be told, the slot corner struggled in Minnesota’s overmatched defense. True, Ed Donatell wasn’t putting the group in a great position to succeed, though the slot issues were notable. Sullivan finished the year with a 55.7 grade on PFF, a result that led to him being tied for 96th among eligible corners.
He carried a $1.75 million cap hit in 2022. Given how slow things are moving for the veteran slot corner, Sullivan may need to accept a deal that comes with a lesser cap hit in 2023. He played 886 snaps in the slot last season.
The current top trio in Minnesota consists of Byron Murphy, Andrew Booth Jr., and Akayleb Evans. If a game occurred tomorrow, Murphy would need to slide into slot when the defense was in nickle.
Some recent speculation has the Vikings targeting Deonte Banks in the draft (Arif Hasan mentions him on Notes from the North), but it’s entirely plausible that he’s long gone by the time pick #23 arrives. Some other names to consider are Brian Branch (for the slot), Cam Smith, Emmanuel Forbes, and Kelee Ringo.
The NFL Draft will run from April 27th until April 29th. Afterwards, many of the remaining free agents will get scooped up. Keep an eye on Chandon Sullivan if he’s still looking for work.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
