Vikings re-sign G Dozier, C/G Jones, May have interest in Trent Williams
Joe Johnson
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Don’t say that they never invest in the offensive live!
Starting quality starters? Maybe not. But if the non-existent starters get hurt you can rest assured that… at least in Brett Jones’ case, the Vikings will probably cut him mid-season and hope he clears waivers.
I apologize if I sound snarky, but these are hardly the moves that scream that the offensive line (the unit, I’ll remind you, that has single handedly knee-capped any hope this team has had during the Zimmer era) is the or even A priority this free agency period.
It was reported that the Vikings resigned both Dakota Dozier and Brett Jones, which is admittedly better than nothing, by multiple sources.
In terms of Dozier (according to Yahoo! Sports/Reuters ):
“Terms of the deal were not disclosed by the Vikings, however TwinCities.com reported that the contract was for one year and $1 million.
The 28-year-old has appeared in 53 career games (11 starts) with the Vikings and New York since being selected by the Jets in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft.”
http://twitter.com/christomasson/status/1243934429027983362
In terms of Jones (and BigNewsNetwork.com):
“In August 2018, the Vikings acquired Jones from the Giants via trade in exchange for a 2019 seventh-round draft pick. He started the first three games of the 2018 season when Pat Elflein was recovering from an injury suffered during the previous season’s NFC Championship.”
The Vikings also resigned back-up running back and punt returner Ameer Abdullah, per DetroitNews.com):
“Abdullah has been the team’s primary kickoff returner since being claimed off waivers from the Lions on Nov. 7, 2018. He also carved out a niche on coverage units last season, while tallying 203 yards from scrimmage with one receiving touchdown. Abdullah, a second-round draft pick by the Lions in 2015, has 1,366 rushing yards and 518 receiving yards in 58 career games.”
Then there’s the Trent Williams rumors, which seem to stem from one Redskins reporter from ESPN, John Keim)
Now. I know that this’ll sound like “The Grass is Always Greener” syndrome, but using 75% of the salary cap space that the team has decimated its core for, for a soon-to-be 32 year old cry baby with injury issues, sounds like the Jake Long/Andre Smith era (albeit much more expensive, with a much higher potential rate of return).
If the Vikings could get the ‘Skins to take Riley Reiff (who is somehow making near the amount Williams is (at least in terms of projected salary per Sportrac)), then maybe this’ll work. But, at this point, I’ve clearly got little faith.
At least until the draft. When they spend all their pre-fifth round picks on the defense and I spontaneously combust (although, if I’m aware of it ahead of time is it really spontaneous? Pre-planned combust? Like a responsible adult?).