Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd is under contract with the team for the upcoming season, but does that mean he'll don the purple and gold or will he be moved elsewhere?
Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman didn't shed any light on the answer to such a question when he met with the media Thursday.
"Sharrif's situation is, in fact I just saw him continuing to rehab, so he is under contract for the Minnesota Vikings next year," Spielman said.
Floyd has missed 20 games in four seasons in the NFL including missing 15 games last season with both a knee and hip injury.
While Floyd did play all 16 games during his rookie season, he has suffered an injury in the last three seasons, potentially harming his development and seemingly frustrating Head Coach Mike Zimmer.
After the Vikings placed Floyd on injured-reserve last season, Zimmer was asked why they finally made the decision to put the defensive tackle on IR after Floyd was absent from the team for a number of days beforehand. Zimmer simply said, "We didn't think it would be this long, to be honest with you. We didn't think it was going to be, like, six years worth of hurt."
Such frustration would lead some to believe that Floyd's injury history would lead him to be a cap casualty before his salary bonus kicks in; however, that might not be the case.
As frustrating as it has been dealing with Floyd's injuries, Spielman spoke Thursday to how great of a player the four-year pro can be...when healthy, that is."
"When he is healthy, he's a pretty good player," Spielman said. "Our defense played well last year, but we did miss Sharrif, because when he is healthy he's a significant part of our defense and can make a difference in games when he's in there."
Such praise from Spielman shows how good of a player Floyd can be, he simply needs to remain healthy. Should the Vikings deem Floyd incapable of shaking the injury bug, they can release him before March 9 and avoid the almost $7 million cap hit that would come with having him on the roster.