Vikings Down to One Realistic Option for Free Agent DE
Dustin Baker
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Approximately 45 EDGE rushers signed with various teams during free agency this offseason.
For now, the Minnesota Vikings are content with a compilation approach opposite Danielle Hunter — Stephen Weatherly, D.J. Wonnum, Patrick Jones II, Janarius Robinson, Jalyn Holmes, Kenny Willekes, and Jordan Brailford. Ostensibly, this will be the group (perhaps trimmed by a name or two after roster cutdowns) that accompanies Danielle Hunter, Michael Pierce, Dalvin Tomlinson, Sheldon Richardson, and Armon Watts on the Vikings 2021 defensive line.
Weatherly was the team’s free-agent EDGE acquisition. In fact, he was the first free agent that Minnesota signed amid its defensive bonanza in the spring. The Carolina Panthers hosted Weatherly for one season, allowing him to head back home to the Vikings after nine games of service.
The frontrunner to start opposite Hunter is reasonably Weatherly as of now. Although, when general manager Rick Spielman signed Sheldon Richardson in June, theories abounded that head coach Mike Zimmer will get creative with the utilization of Richardson. He spent the 2018 season in Minnesota, so some familiarity with the system exists.
The Vikings will take all of the innovation and quarterback pressure they can find. The pandemic season was so rotten that Minnesota finished dead last in the NFL for defensive pass rush per Pro Football Focus. Zimmer’s defenses ordinarily hang their hats on a vicious pass rush, making this last-in-the-business malarkey a true outlier.
While betting money is probably on some trio of Weatherly, Wonnum, and Jones II receiving the defensive snaps on the opposite side of Hunter, severely limited free-agent options do still exist. But the question looms: Wouldn’t the Vikings have signed one of the other 45 men by now? Probably.
Should Spielman desire one other pass-rushing option, one familiar man is available. And he could start immediately — Everson Griffen.
Image courtesy of Vikings.com
That was likely a bit predictable, but he’s truly the one remaining starting-caliber defensive end left on the wire. Adrian Clayborn, formerly of the Cleveland Browns, is intriguing. Yet, he tore his Achilles tendon late in the 2020 season. His impact, if any, may take months to surface for any team that signs on the dotted line.
Griffen, on the other hand, would be forced to mend fences with Minnesota’s front office and players. Earlier in 2021, Griffen tweeted-then-deleted whimsical and insulting statements about quarterback Kirk Cousins and the team as a whole. Then, he expressed a longing to return to the Vikings. It was a strange ordeal. Needless to say, his tweeting routine ceased after the controversy.
If the Vikings can find a way to make amends with Griffen (or vice versa), the USC alumnus would add instant flair to the defensive line — as he did for 10 seasons in Minneapolis. Hell, Danielle Hunter has never played a single snap of professional football without Griffen on the roster.
Griffen registered six sacks in 2020 during stints with the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions — while playing about 25% of all defensive snaps. When those Vikings foes gave the man playing time, he delivered. On Minnesota’s all-time sack list, Griffen ranks seventh (74.5 sacks), trailing Jared Allen (84.5 sacks) by 10 sacks. During his last season in purple, he tallied 35 pressures per ProFootballReference.com — which ranked 14th in the NFL for the 2019 season. It was the season that the Vikings upended the New Orleans Saints in the postseason. Hunter had 36 quarterback pressures; Griffen was one off Hunter’s total.
At age 33, Griffen probably has one or two final hurrahs for a team that takes the plunge. If the Vikings are not the team to effectuate it, he’ll eventually sign on with a franchise, probably a contending team.
The other option for Minnesota is to stay organic with the current group and hope that Hunter-Pierce-Tomlinson-Richardson generates enough attention to free up Weatherly-Wonnum-Jones for some menace.
The Vikings have about $12 million in cap space as of August 2nd, more than enough to sign Griffen.
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