Like Father, Like Son? The Free Agent Who Could Be a Major Boost to Minnesota’s Secondary
Josh Frey
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The upcoming free agency period looks like it will be an exciting one for the Minnesota Vikings.
Aside from making decisions to retain their own free agents, the Vikings will also have to search the open market for additional talent to help them in 2024. One such free agent is safety Antoine Winfield Jr., whose father spent nine years as a contributor for the Vikings defense.
The Free Agent Who Could Boost the Vikings’ Secondary
When Winfield Sr. began his NFL career, he played five seasons with the Buffalo Bills from 1999-2003, and then he signed with the Minnesota Vikings prior to the 2004 season. Winfield Jr. can follow a similar route after spending his first four seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and now, the safety enters free agency this offseason.
Granted, the Vikings do have a number of talented safeties on the roster already, including Camryn Bynum, Josh Metellus, and the veteran Harrison Smith, but that could change in the next couple of years.
Smith is viewed as a potential cap casualty this offseason because of his large $19.2 million cap hit in 2024, and the safety is going to enter his age-35 season next fall. As difficult a pill as it may be to swallow for Vikings fans, the legendary safety’s days may be numbered in Minnesota.
Meanwhile, Bynum is set to hit free agency following the 2024 season if he is unable to get a new contract extension with the Vikings before then. If both Bynum and Smith were to leave the team in the coming years, the safety position all of a sudden becomes a rather large need for the defense.
Winfield Jr. has enjoyed a marvelous start to his NFL career with the Buccaneers, including a Super Bowl during his rookie season in 2020. The safety started every game during that campaign, and he knows what it takes to help his team get to the promised land.
For years, Smith was the player that struck fear in the hearts of opponents because of his ability to fly all over the field and deliver punishing hits. Winfield Jr. can be that same player for the Vikings. This past season, not only did the Buccaneers safety record 12 passes defended and three interceptions while earning PFF’s 10th-highest coverage grade among safeties (min. 300 coverage snaps), but he was a game-wrecker as a pass rusher.
Winfield was second among all safeties in total pressures with 20, behind only Metellus of the Vikings. He also paced the safety position in sacks by recording six of them, and he led the entire NFL with six forced fumbles. In a blitz-heavy scheme like Brian Flores, it’s hard to imagine that the safety wouldn’t find success in Minnesota.
Of course, the downfall to signing Winfield could be the price tag. Spotrac projects that the safety will garner a five-year contract this offseason worth a whopping $92.5 million for an annual value of right around $18.4 million per year. PFF is on a similar page by projecting that the Buccaneers will franchise tag him for a one-year/$16.26 million contract.
The franchise tag is certainly a possibility for the safety, but if he were to hit the open market, the Vikings should try to land him. They have plenty of ways to free up cap space, and Winfield has All-Pro talent that should be desired by the team as they try to make it back to the playoffs in 2024.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Focus and Pro Football Reference.
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.