The Vikings Should Explore a CB Recently Released by Eagles

Dustin Baker |

Aug 21, 2023

Matt Starkey/Cleveland Browns via USA TODAY Sports.

The Minnesota Vikings will set sail on the 2023 regular season in 20 days, hoping to maintain their standing on top of the NFC North after taking the division chip for the first time in five years last season.

The Vikings Should Explore a CB Recently Released by Eagles

They’ll also do so with one of the least experienced batches of cornerbacks in team history.

General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah parted ways with five notable corners this offseason, including Patrick Peterson, Duke Shelley, Cameron Dantzler, Chandon Sullivan, and Kris Boyd. In return, he welcomed free-agent newcomers Byron Murphy and Joejuan Williams, plus rookie Mekhi Blackmon. And that’s while resting on best-laid plans for last year’s rookies, Akayleb Evans and Andrew Booth.

To hedge the bet, though, the Vikings should explore the free agency of recently released cornerback Greedy Williams.

Should Explore a CB — Browns receiver JoJo Natson is covered by cornerback Greedy Williams during practice on Tuesday, August 3, 2021, in Berea, Ohio, at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. © PHIL MASTURZO / USA TODAY NETWORK.

Williams spent four seasons in Cleveland — well, three per playing time because of injury — leaving the Browns when his rookie contract expired this offseason. He joined the Philadelphia Eagles in May, stayed for about three months, and was released last week.

The 25-year-old is now a free agent and can sign anywhere in the league.

The aforementioned Adofo-Mensah was coworkers with Williams in Cleveland during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, Adofo-Mensah as Vice President of Football Operations and Williams as a second- and third-year defender. The Vikings bossman should know Williams quite well and vice versa.

Here’s the Vikings CB room as of August 21st:

CB1: Byron Murphy
CB2: Akayleb Evans
CB3: Andrew Booth
CB4: Joejuan Williams
CB5: Mekhi Blackmon
CB6: Kalon Barnes
CB7: Jaylin Williams
CB8: Tay Gowan
CB9: NaJee Thompson
CB10: C.J. Coldon

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd (83) catches a pass as Cleveland Browns cornerback Greedy Williams (26) defends in the fourth quarter during a Week 14 NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019, at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland. The Cleveland Browns won 27-19, and the Cincinnati Bengals fell to 1-12 on the season. © Kareem Elgazzar, Cincinnati Enquirer via Imagn Content Services, LLC.

Minnesota will keep five or six CBs for Brian Flores’ 2023 defense, so Williams, in theory, could nestle in around CB4 or CB5 (if the Vikings were interested in him in the first place).

This is Williams’ Pro Football Focus resume to date:

2019 = 54.6
2020 = Injured
2021 = 64.6
2022 = 52.2

Williams was frequently a healthy scratch last year, signaling the beginning of the end in Cleveland. And then the Eagles secondary was fairly crowded, and he couldn’t land a roster spot in Philadelphia. He showed flashes of promise, however, in 2019 and 2021, a glimpse into his 2nd-Round draft stock four years ago.

If the Vikings took the plunge with Williams, he’d serve as depth in a somewhat skinny CB room. Williams was a college teammate of Justin Jefferson at LSU. He’s logged 99 total tackles and 2 interceptions in 39 career games.

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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 Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).

All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.