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Vikings Territory: Vikings Fans On Everson Griffen Watch
See the latest announcement from Vikings Territory.
Dustin Baker Dustin Baker
2021-08-19
Find out what's happening in Eaganfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The Minnesota Vikings hosted Everson Griffen yesterday in Eagan, exploring a renewal of the relationship with the pass rusher.
Now, there is mystery about his future with the team. Will he sign on the dotted line or won’t he?
Find out what's happening in Eaganfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
If Griffen can channel his 2019 tendencies (his final year in Minnesota), head coach Mike Zimmer will welcome the USC alumnus back with open arms. The only challenge – if anybody inside the organization actually cares – is that Griffen tweeted insulting things bout the Vikings earlier in 2021. He denigrated the quarterback and questioned whether Zimmer ever really wanted the quarterback (Kirk Cousins) on his team to begin with. This is less than ideal for the sake of a reunion.
For pro-Griffen fans, it would’ve been optimal for Vikings brass to sign the deal yesterday and put the man to work. That did not occur, but it should not dampen enthusiasm on the deal.
And Minnesota has the cap space – that’s weird to announce at this time of year – to add more free agents. Roughly $13.5 million is available to Spielman, a marvel of budgeting because the pandemic shrunk the salary cap for all teams tremendously this offseason. Somehow – the Vikings managed to acquire oodles of free agents while keeping that $13.5 million intact for, what feels like, an entire summer.
Per Sean Borman of VikingsTerritory, this is how the pass rush might look in 2021 if Spielman finishes the deal with Griffen:
Too, the sheer volume of new faces is encouraging. Per Pro Football Focus, the Vikings were the NFL’s worst pass-rushing team in the league last year – absolutely last. Adding new faces and ones who return from injury is the recipe to flip this bad PFF standing on its head – in a good way.
The Vikings “missed out” on a litany of pass rushers during 2021 free agency. For a couple of months, Justin Houston and Melvin Ingram were available at a reasonable price. But those men chose the AFC North for employment. Houston joined the Baltimore Ravens whereas Ingram is a Pittsburgh Steeler.
Maybe Griffen was the plan along.
This press release was produced by Vikings Territory .The views expressed here are the author’s own.
