Anthony Barr Visits NFC East Team
The ex-Vikings stars are slowly finding new teams. Eric Kendricks joined the Los Angeles Chargers in March, Adam Thielen will catch passes from first-overall pick Bryce Young in Carolina, and Dalvin Cook just became the newest member of the New York Jets.
Anthony Barr Visits NFC East Team
Anthony Barr could be the next in line. The veteran linebacker was a star for the Vikings for many years. Now on the wrong side of 30, there is still a lot of demand for the former UCLA standout. He had a visit set up with the New York Giants, the team that kicked the Vikings out of the playoffs in January.
Josina Anderson reported about the planned visit last week and on Thursday she wrote on the X app: “Soooo….as stated the Giants were on deck for free agent LB Anthony Barr, as he already told me. @RapSheet reporting Barr’s visit today, though my report was knocked down last week. Barr is talented & it’s a position of need. Can’t let news coming out impact what’s necessary!”
The New York Giants have an up-and-coming defense with some promising pieces. Their 2022 group was alright in pass coverage but awful at defending the run, which is where Barr excels as one of the bigger linebackers in the league. Only the Chargers allowed more yards per run than the Giants.
The top free agent addition of the Giants this offseason was to sign former Colts linebacker Bobby Okereke. They spent a lot of money on contract extensions, of course giving quarterback Daniel Jones a deal worth $40 million per season. Minnesota’s struggling defense in the playoffs game certainly didn’t hurt his leverage in the negotiations. To support him with better weapons, the Giants acquired star tight end Darren Waller and drafted center John Michael Schmitz and speedy receiver Jalin Hyatt.
Saquon Barkley was franchise-tagged and top defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence — who was also a pest for the Vikings — and left tackle Andrew Thomas signed for a combined $46 million per season.
The first-round selection came just one spot after the Vikings picked Jordan Addison and they chose to add Maryland cornerback Deonte Banks, a player who was commonly sent to Minnesota in mock drafts.
Similar to the Vikings’ approach, the Giants don’t have elite defensive personnel but an excellent defensive coordinator who loves to blitz. Wink Martindale is famous for leading the league in blitzes every season.
Okereke will take over one linebacker spot, the other one is currently projected to be 2022 sixth-rounder Darrian Beavers who didn’t play in 2022 because of a torn ACL suffered in the preseason. Competing with him is last year’s fifth-rounder Micah McFadden. He recorded 59 tackles through 17 games in his rookie season including 7 starts. Shockingly, he was inactive in the postseason contests but he’s having a good training camp.
No matter the starting linebacker next to Okereke, Barr would be an upgrade. While he is long past his prime at age 31 with chronic knee problems, he still played on over 600 snaps last season in the vigorous defense of the Dallas Cowboys.
Barr made 98 appearances with the Vikings over the course of eight seasons. He fired up 495 tackles and 17.5 sacks. The linebacker went to four straight Pro Bowls from 2015 to 2018.
Ian Rapoport reported on X that no deal is imminent. The veteran is taking his time to choose the best situation for him. Minnesota is not scheduled to play against the Giants but they face the Saints in Week 10 and Barr joining the rivals is still on the table.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and Classic rock is his music genre of choice. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt
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