Dede Westbrook Remains Vikings Most Fascinating Free Agent “Maybe”
It’s flatly a mystery what the Minnesota Vikings will do with roughly $14 million remaining in cap space per OverTheCap.com. The working theory suggests that the franchise could stand to improve at defensive end, possibly weakside linebacker, and WR3.
So far, though, the Vikings merely signed oodles of cornerbacks with the cash flow, solidifying the longstanding joke and tendency that the team’s head coach, Mike Zimmer, adores cornerbacks. Too, general manager Rick Spielman acquired Sheldon Richardson, a defensive tackle, in free agency, adding heft to the interior of the defensive line with a knack of pass-rushing.
The flashy names that are available? Justin Houston (EDGE), Melvin Ingram (EDGE), Kwon Alexander (LB), Richard Sherman (CB), Larry Fitzgerald (WR), and Golden Tate (WR). Minnesota would arguably be best served to add Houston, who is a stature clone of Everson Griffen, to bolster the pass rush opposite Danielle Hunter. But that remains to be seen.
The other fascination is Dede Westbrook – a free-agent wide receiver from the Jacksonville Jaguars with ties to new Vikings WR coach Keenan McCardell. From a football standpoint, McCardell nurtured Westbrook every step of the way in Jacksonville. For the entire time Westbrook has been an NFLer, McCardell has been in charge.
The Vikings and Westbrook were even theorized to have talked about football marriage in May. And anytime the topic of “what will the Vikings do with their unusually high amount of cap space” arises, Westbrook’s name is dropped to kick off the chatter. Larry Fitzgerald is certainly the sentimental favorite for a union with the 2021 Vikings, but his addition to the team is truly a longshot.
What’s more, the Westbrook-to-Vikings rumors are kept alive by items like this:
https://twitter.com/nflrums/status/1409795841179762689?s=20
The fans want Westbrook as well.
If the new player bonanza continues for the Vikings, which free agent would you most enjoy seeing join the team next?
— Dustin Baker (@DustBaker) June 15, 2021
The Vikings need a WR3. To be sure, rookie pass-catcher Ihmir Smith-Marsette could bust out of the 5th Round of the 2021 NFL Draft, but that is largely post-draft hype and hope at the moment. Late-round draft picks seldom pan out as keynote contributors. Vikings fans remember the success Stefon Diggs encountered immediately in his career — he was a 5th-Rounder, too — so the same pathway must be on the docket for Smith-Marsette. But that is presumptively optimistic thinking.
Signing Westbrook is a much more bonafide strategy. His 2020 season was plagued by a torn ACL, allowing for just 16 offensive snaps by the 27-year-old Westbrook. In 2019, he hauled in 717 receiving yards and five touchdowns from Blake Bortles and Cody Kessler. The year after that, Westbrook notched 660 yards via the air and three paydirts from Nick Foles and Gardner Minshew II.
Those numbers will not blow onlookers away, but the Vikings do not need a target sponge. The team already has those in Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson to be the receiving squeegees. The 600-700 yard range and 4-5 touchdowns per season arrangement for Westbrook with the Vikings would be luscious.
Why? Well, Minnesota hasn’t utilized a true-blue WR3 in a very long time. In fact, the last time that three Vikings wide receivers all had 500+ receiving yards in the same season was 2009 — the campaign driven by Brett Favre.
Signing Westbrook – or any other WR3 – requires a leap of faith for the fans’ aspirations. If the Vikings haven’t realized the importance of WR3 in seven years of head coach Mike Zimmer, will they really start now?
The best case in support of the Westbrook to Minnesota? Indeed, it’s that McCardell connection. That’s what makes this free-agent what-if a little more plausible.