One Free Agent Could Be Available to Vikings for Cheap
Among the Minnesota Vikings’ offseason roster needs are quarterback, outside linebacker, and defensive tackle. Some also argue cornerback is a roster deficiency.
One Free Agent Could Be Available to Vikings for Cheap
Free agency begins in five weeks, and the 2024 NFL Draft gets underway in 79 days.
And if the Vikings want to cross the defensive tackle need off the list, at least per depth, one player would make a lot of sense — Raekwon Davis of the Miami Dolphins.
Davis is scheduled to hit free agency and may not return to the Dolphins on a second contract. His fit on the Vikings’ roster wouldn’t be totally random; Minnesota’s defensive coordinator, Brian Flores, was the Dolphins head coach when Davis joined the league four years ago. Often, coaches find their former players and bring them aboard for reunions. Davis could follow suit for the Vikings.
Of course, Davis might not be an emphatic starting solution, but he won’t break the bank. Here’s his Pro Football Focus resume to date:
- 2020 = 71.1
- 2021 = 36.5
- 2022 = 43.4
- 2023 = 58.8
Flores was in Year No. 2 of his Dolphins stint when he and Miami’s front office plucked Davis from Round 2 of the 2020 NFL Draft from Alabama. For context, the same draft sent Justin Jefferson, Josh Metellus, K.J. Osborn, and Ezra Cleveland to the Vikings.
In four seasons, Davis has played 63 games while starting 48, tabulating 129 total tackles, 10 QB hits, 5 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks. His pass-rush talents far exceed his run-stopping ability, but Davis could serve as a respectable depth piece for an interior Vikings pass rush close to nonexistent in 2023.
Heading into 2023, Davis seemed like a total wildcard to remain with the Dolphins beyond his rookie deal. Last offseason, ThePhinsInsider’s George Forder wrote about Davis’ upcoming free agency, “While Christian Wilkins and Zach Sieler have emerged as one of the best interior duos in the NFL, Raekwon Davis has seen his career stagnate. While there were questions about his maturity coming out of college, there has been no indication that Davis hasn’t taken his NFL life seriously.”
Davis’ next contract should fetch around $2 million annually, so he’ll be affordable.
“It is worth mentioning again that to some degree his lack of production is a product of his assignment. Wilkins and Sieler are penetrators-they want to knife into the backfield and bring down ball carriers. Davis is more of a two-gap defender that is there to keep players at the second level of the defense clean. The question is, what is that worth to the Miami Dolphins’ front office?” Forder added.
Davis will turn 27 in June.
The Vikings have around $25 million in available cap space as of early February.
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.
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