Young Vikings Defender Expresses Love for MIN, Mostly Evades Extension Topic
Young Vikings defender Camryn Bynum is a good football player, often showing great range and explosiveness in the deep area of the field. He can also be quite nimble while talking to the media.
Not too long ago, the safety was asked about his status with the Vikings since he’s entering the final year of his rookie contract. “Yeah, I love Minnesota,” Bynum states. “Just praying for whatever God’s will is for me that He just has that. And my focus is to come out here and play football and have fun and keep getting better no matter my situation.”
Young Vikings Defender Didn’t Take the Cheese
The answer is a good one.
Bynum very likely wants to land a large new deal. Who wouldn’t? He has been leaned on to play massive snaps over these past couple of seasons and has been making pretty modest money as a 4th-Round selection from the 2021 NFL Draft.
In the 2022 season, Bynum was leaned on for 1,161 defensive snaps; his cap charge came in at $1,004,453. In the 2023 season, Bynum was leaned on for 1,122 defensive snaps; his cap charge came in at $1,119,453. So, Mr. Bynum would be forgiven if he’s looking for a raise in the not-too-distant future.
But in a maneuver that would make Mike Zimmer proud, Camryn Bynum didn’t take the cheese.
A follow-up question asked the defender about the extension yet again. He didn’t journey too far down the contract path, though: “My agent, he’s doing all the work behind the scenes. My head is straight on the field.”
Last offseaon, Josh Metellus got kept around for a couple more seasons and just $8 million in total money. The crucial caveat is that Mr. Metellus was at that time “just” a special teams stud, not a defensive starter. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah thus got good value before Metellus became a key component of the Brian Flores defense.
Is the same luxury there with Bynum?
The Vikings are staring down a bit of a tricky extension situation. Last year, Bynum piled up 137 tackles, 0.5 sacks, 9 passes defended, 2 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles, and 2 tackles for loss. Getting that kind of player for just $4M/season seems quite unlikely, and yet the Vikings may be reluctant to pay Bynum far more than what they’re giving Metellus.
The Metellus negotiation involved arriving at a deal with someone who had yet to firmly prove he could be a defensive starter. The Bynum negotiation will involve someone who has been an entrenched starter for two straight years. See the issue? Bynum has a bit more on his resume going into negotiations.
Generally speaking, Bynum lines up in the deep portion of the field more than his safety counterpart. He snagged 561 snap as a free safety, with slot corner being the next largest allotment at 282 snaps. Metellus, in contrast, had slot corner as the largest total with 396 snaps and in the box coming in second with 377 snaps (free safety was down at 55 snaps).
So, both Camryn Bynum and Josh Metellus are safeties for the Vikings, but their deployment is very different. How Adofo-Mensah untangles that reality and works through negotiations is going to make for some fascinating offseason speculation and analysis.
Bynum is going to turn 26 on July 19th.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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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.