The Minnesota Vikings had its worst defensive performance in the Mike Zimmer era in 2020. Opt outs and injuries were a big reason as to why the defense struggled so frequently, but the lack of depth was also a huge problem.
In particular, the Vikings’ pass rush was the worst it’s been since Zimmer took over in 2014. In fact, Yannick Ngakoue led the team with five sacks on the season even after getting traded to Baltimore in October.
A good pass rush could have made for an easier transition for the young secondary, but instead the season started out with the young cornerbacks getting exposed. The defensive line will certainly have to get addressed in the upcoming draft, but a solid depth piece with knowledge of Zimmer’s defense could be rather easy to find.
Former Vikings’ star Everson Griffen has been all over social media lately interacting with the fan base regularly. Most recently he shared a photo of U.S. Bank Stadium on his Instagram story, which was then followed up by a picture outside of TCO Performance Center.
Griffen bounced from Dallas to Detroit this season and wasn’t overly productive in either stint. However, he knows the Vikings system and would bring back a veteran presence that the team desperately needs.
In his ten seasons in Minnesota Griffen totaled 74.5 sacks and 355 total tackles. In terms of age he is no longer a spring chicken at 33, but getting a veteran voice back with over a decade of experience would certainly be a boost to the Vikings’ defense.
According to overthecap.com the Vikings are currently over 9 million dollars over the cap ahead of 2021. Finding a younger pass rusher would be much more expensive, so a reunion with Griffen could make a lot of sense for the right price.
Free agency doesn’t start until March 17 in the NFL, so nothing can be made official until then. Even with that being over two months away, Griffen is a name to keep an eye on as we get closer to the middle of March.