Prominent Defensive Lineman Scheduled to Visit Vikings
It’s the first day of the legal tampering period and Vikings fans have submitted their lists of targets they want their favorite team to acquire. Among those is help for the secondary and the offensive line as well as a new veteran quarterback to pair with J.J. McCarthy.
Prominent Defensive Lineman Scheduled to Visit Vikings
But there’s another hole on the roster the team has been carrying for years. The lack of a defensive tackle who can wreak some havoc in the passing game has been a serious problem for quite some time.
This year’s free agency class is filled with players who can help in that area. Super Bowl hero Milton Williams is a popular candidate, but he will be expensive. Other guys continue to spawn out of nowhere as their old employers release them for cap-saving purposes.
One of them is Jonathan Allen, who, for the first time in his career, is available on the open market after the Commanders released him a few days ago. He is reportedly on his way to Minnesota, ready to visit the club.
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert voiced on social media, “Per colleague Jeremy Fowler, free agent DT Jonathan Allen plans to visit the Vikings. Allen overlapped in Washington with Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell when O’Connell was an assistant coach there.”
He added, “This visit is happening today, per Adam Schefter.”
The defender turned 30 in January. He was a 2017 first-round draft choice out of Alabama and has spent his entire career with the various names the Washington franchise has had over the years.
His resume includes a bunch of accolades from his college days, two Pro Bowl participations in 2021 and 2022, as well as 401 tackles and 42 sacks in the big league. Allen played in 109 regular season games with the Commanders. Last season, he was limited to eight contests due to a torn pectoral muscle, but he still registered three sacks.
Allen is a guy who can get after the quarterback from the inside, something the Vikings haven’t had since Kevin Williams ended his Vikings chapter.
Currently, the purple team has five defensive linemen under contract for the 2025 campaign:
- Harrison Phillips
- Jalen Redmond
- Taki Taimani
- Levi Drake Rodriguez
- Jonathan Harris
Phillips is the top guy in the room, but his focus is on stopping the run. Fellow linemen Redmond, Taimani, and Rodriguez are all intriguing young players, but it would be far-fetched to expect them to explode into Pro Bowl territory in their second and third seasons after having only rotational roles so far.
That’s where Allen comes into the conversation. He can, if healthy, provide that Pro Bowl-caliber play, which would be a huge upgrade for Brian Flores’s defense.
Another sweet aspect is that Allen doesn’t count towards the compensatory pick formula because he was released and isn’t a free agent whose contract had expired.
Allen would be a massive get for the Vikings.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt