FA Trifecta is About Depth, Folks
K. Joudry
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More pessimistic Vikings fans are perhaps feeling cynical about the recent moves. Yesterday, the news emerged that the team has signed corners Tye Smith and Nate Hairston. They also added on Jesse Davis to compete along the offensive line. As far as free agency moves go, these three aren’t going to be the most exciting for Minnesota Vikings fans.
The corners are being brought in to create competition and to raise the floor. Currently, the team likely views Cameron Dantzler as a legit starter. Otherwise, there are a lot of depth options. Perhaps Chandon Sullivan will be the slot solution, and one or two of the depth players may end up surprising fans and coaches alike.
Even still, it would be foolish to head into the season with the current corner cluster. I’m among those who believe that there’s a 0% chance the team doesn’t add at least 1 corner in the draft and 1 notable free agent (with a particular emphasis on notable). The team is one Dantzler injury away from having exclusively backup talent.
The right guard position is the source of no little concern. For this reason, Minnesota Vikings fans were hoping to see a solution brought in through free agency. I was all aboard the Austin Corbett hype train, but that dream ended up falling apart.
Jesse Davis will compete with Wyatt Davis and Oli Udoh to get snaps at RG. This is an uninspiring situation, but it’s the way things are currently set up.
In fairness, guard is a relatively unimportant position. I’d imagine the team looks at corner and edge rusher as being far more important, and they’d be correct in that belief. Nevertheless, we ought not completely overlook this position, especially in a conference that boasts Aaron Donald, Kenny Clark, Vita Vea, Grady Jarrett, Jonathan Allen, and Dexter Lawrence (among others).
Forced to guess at this precise moment, I’d say the team doesn’t bring in any other notable FAs before the draft. My inclination is that they’ll instead choose to slow play things. Doing so would allow them to head into the draft and see how things shake out. If they feel like they get the perfect Day 1 starter at RG, then there’s no need to snag a vet. We can say the same about a few other different positions, such as corner, center, and possibly safety.
So, don’t be discouraged about these moves. These are about creating internal competition and solidifying roster depth. Both the free agency and draft work is ongoing for the Minnesota Vikings.
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