Anthony Barr Again Linked to NFC Team
About two months ago, free-agent linebacker Anthony Barr was linked in the rumor mill to the New York Jets, mainly because the defender was on the verge of heading to that franchise in 2019.
But that never materialized, and Barr remains a free agent. Then in May, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell forecasted the Dallas Cowboys as a sensible landing spot for the 30-year-old.
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ESPN is at it again with the Barr-to-Cowboys theory, this time by Matt Bowen. Free agency formally began in March, and over 2.5 months have transpired with Barr on the open market. While some have speculated Barr is dealing with career-threatening injuries (and hence no attention on the open market), nothing is confirmed about Barr’s availability for 2022.
One item seems certain. Barr is unlikely to rejoin the Vikings for a ninth season as Minnesota signed off-ball linebacker Jordan Hicks from the Arizona Cardinals in March, seemingly to replace the UCLA alumnus. Too, Barr posted this to Instagram when the Vikings regular season capped.
But the Cowboys prediction is alive and well, voiced by Bowen from ESPN, “While I don’t see high-level impact ability with Barr at this stage of his career, he can be schemed-up in Quinn’s defense as a blitzer, and we know he has the ability to match/carry underneath in coverage.”
Barr would indeed be an appropriate fit in Dallas alongside Micah Parsons, who won the Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 2021. Leighton Vander Esch is the other off-ball linebacker in Dallas, so Barr would presumably support both of those younger men.
In [what figures to be] his final season with the Vikings, Barr performed admirably. He tallied a 62.9 grade from Pro Football Focus and somehow intercepted three passes. He’s been bitten by the injury bug since 2020, missing 63% of all football games, but it is unclear if those injuries are debilitating. When on the field for 11 games in Minnesota last year, Barr was quite efficient.
Unless he surprisingly reverses course and rejoins the Vikings, Barr will always be remembered as the quintessential “Mike Zimmer guy,” as the two men’s tenures in Minnesota are perfectly aligned. Zimmer was hired as head coach in 2014, a couple of months before Barr was drafted. And then both departed during the 2022 offseason.
If Barr signs with the Cowboys, he’ll reunite with former Vikings safety Jayron Kearse.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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