Patrick Peterson Back Changes Nothing about the Vikings 2022 Draft Plans
Minnesota Vikings cornerback Patrick Peterson re-signed with the Vikings earlier this week, instantly bolstering much-needed depth in the team’s CB room.
But his rejoining with the team should change very little about the upcoming NFL draft — or long-term roster-building plans.
Peterson, 31, stated his desire to play three more seasons on Wednesday, perhaps allotting all those campaigns to the Vikings organization. We shall see. Signing back on with the Vikings gives the defense snap-of-the-fingers credibility as Peterson’s 78.7 passer-rating-against from 2021 is quite commendable. Assuming his age-related decline doesn’t suddenly begin in 2022, the Vikings now have a respectable group of corners with Cameron Dantzler, Chandon Sullivan, Nate Hairston, Harrison Hand, Kris Boyd, Parry Nickerson, and Tye Smith.
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But don’t be fooled. That group is serviceable on paper — especially in a talent-depleted NFC North — but it is not a fix-all.
Most draft brains foresee the Vikings choosing a cornerback in the 1st Round of the 2022 NFL Draft, and that prognosis should not waver in the aftermath of the Peterson extension. Peterson isn’t young and can only be coined a short-term performer for the Vikings.
Now and later, Minnesota still needs its version of shutdown corner. And that’s why most mock drafts theorize men like Ahmad Gardner or Derek Stingley landing with the Vikings in four weeks. The Stingley idea is titillating because he, too, went to LSU — Peterson’s alma mater. Wouldn’t you know it? Minnesota has fabulous luck drafting LSU men, from Justin Jefferson, Danielle Hunter to Henry Thomas in 1987.
For draft fallout, the only item that may change is draft placement of the soon-to-be new Vikings corner. New general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah need not “panic draft” a cornerback at #12 because the Vikings are slim pickings on the depth chart. The Peterson re-signing affords a smidgen of flexibility, enabling Adofo-Mensah to trade back and draft a CB lower in the 1st Round or scoop one that he loves out of Round 2.
On the whole, though, the need for a cornerback does not diminish. In fact, Minnesota could stand to draft two corners in the first three rounds, and few sensible Vikings fans would complain.
Somehow, all of the Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman CB choices in the 1st and 2nd Rounds over the last nine years didn’t pan out for the long-long term. So now, the franchise must start afresh fortifying the secondary via draft capital.
All the Peterson sequel did was give Adofo-Mensah a little buffer to maybe select a CB later in the first two rounds on draft night.
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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