Zimmer: “We Expect [Everson Griffen] to be Back”
Joe Johnson
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With Vikings general manager Rick Spielman speaking to the media at the combine yesterday, there is a lot to chew on from his comments about players like Stefon Diggs, Kirk Cousins, and Dalvin Cook. However, those players are still under contract with the Vikings, so their situations aren’t as pressing as that of now-former Vikings defensive end, Everson Griffen.
Griffen opted out of his contract recently, something he was able to do because he hit certain benchmarks in 2019. Those benchmarks? Get at least 6.5 sacks in 2019, play on 57 percent of the Vikings’ defensive snaps. With eight sacks and 78 percent of snaps played, Griffen opted to … Opt-out of his deal, something that the team said was “expected”.
Now that Griffen is a free agent, there are multiple articles about where he might land and on which teams would be the best fit for the 32-year old. While the move was, again, expected, is doesn’t seem like a move that screams that Griffen will return to Minnesota. Especially if he has the Super Bowl itch that many greats at his age get, then he could end up joining a team that he considers closer to that goal than Minnesota who isn’t exactly zooming up the Super Bowl odds rankings as of late (per Sportsbook app from betrivers).
Not so fast!
Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer spoke also spoke at the NFL Combine today and when asked about Griffen he said:
“We met with his agent yesterday. Everson is a terrific person for us. I think our situation is the right one for him and we expect him to be back”.
So, maybe… Just MAYBE, Griffen yet again took one for the team (literally) and voided his contract to help the Vikings open up some much-needed cap space and to show some other players on the team, cough, cough RHODES… Cough, Sneeze, JOSEPH, AH CHOO!
Excuse me! There’s a lot of asbestos in the basement I write from. Like a real journalist (?).
There you have it, folks. It’s looking like Everson is, in fact, going to be returning to the Vikings barring some sort of major change(s). That’s good news as this Vikings team is really only a few pieces away, pieces on the offensive line, to being a contender. So, the fewer openings we have across the board the more this team can invest in starters and depth at their positions of need.
Phew.