3 Notable Former Vikings Remain Unsigned
The initial frenzy of free agency has been over for a couple of weeks now, and we are now at the stage where the remaining names will come off of the board slowly over the next couple of months. Some will even remain unemployed through the beginning of the regular season.
Some of the notable names that remain (that the Vikings could consider signing) include:
- WR Amari Cooper
- WR Tyler Boyd
- CB Kendall Fuller
- CB Rasul Douglas
- CB Asante Samuel Jr.
- S Justin Simmons
- S Marcus Williams (yes, that Marcus Williams)
There are a few former Vikings that I didn’t include that probably deserve to currently be on a roster somewhere, but have found themselves without a job as we approach early April.
G Dalton Risner
This isn’t the first time it’s taken a while for the league to call Risner up. In fact, it’s the third. Risner wasn’t signed until multiple weeks into the 2023 regular season by Minnesota for his first stint with the purple after the Broncos had declined to offer an extension earlier in the year, and he didn’t sign again with the Vikings in 2024 until late May.
Risner was the definition of “fine” with the Vikings. He isn’t a guy who should be getting a major payday, and he also shouldn’t be getting a veteran minimum contract. A team will surely be in contact with him in the coming months, as he’s a solid veteran who, at the very least, would compete for a starting spot on a needy offensive line during training camps.
Risner hasn’t ever really been afraid to say what he believes he deserves, and he isn’t exactly wrong, either.
CB Shaquill Griffin
Shaquill Griffin also fits the bill of a player who was just “fine” for the Vikings during his short tenure with the team. Minnesota signed him to a 1-year/$4.5 million deal in mid-March of 2024, and he was immediately assumed to have a decent-sized role in the secondary.
That he did. He played 597 snaps in his lone year with the Vikings, and he allowed only 2 TDs while also marking 2 interceptions. His 64.3 PFF overall grade was 92nd out of 222 cornerbacks, his 62.4 PFF coverage grade was 94th, and his PFF run defense grade was 71.3, an impressive 46th among 222 corners.
Everything points towards the fact that Griffin is a fine CB3 with great run-defending upside, and a team will surely extend an offer to come work out sometime during the summer.
LB Eric Kendricks
Eric Kendricks is one of those guys who, no matter where he goes or how many teams he plays for, he knows he’s a Viking at heart, and Vikings fans know that as well.
He hasn’t played for Minnesota for a couple of years now, since making stops with the Los Angeles Chargers and reuniting with former Vikings head coach and then-Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer.
Kendricks was actually pretty sweet for Dallas in 2024:
- 75.2 PFF overall grade (27th out of 189 LBs)
- 78.5 PFF pass-rush grade (12th)
- 78.3 PFF run defense grade (33rd)
- 62.7 PFF coverage grade (61st)
- 88 solo tackles (20th)
- 40 assisted tackles (9th)
- 3 sacks (13th)
- 3 forced fumbles (5th)
Kendricks, like Shaquill Griffin, will likely get a call sometime after the draft and into the summer from a team that is still lacking at the linebacker position after they kicked the can on addressing their need for it or after inevitable (and unfortunate) training camp injuries.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF helped with this article.
