Only One Player from Last Year’s Vikings Never Signed Anywhere
There was only one.
Only One Player from Last Year’s Vikings Never Signed Anywhere
Each and every Minnesota Vikings player from the 2023 roster either re-signed in Minnesota, found a new team, or at least auditioned for a club this summer.
Except for Anthony Barr.
Barr remains unsigned as of early September and had no attention all summer. And that could be his own prerogative; it’s just unclear with the regular season underway.
Drafted by Minnesota in 2014 at the start of the Mike Zimmer era, Barr played 102 games in eight seasons for the Vikings, recording four Pro Bowls from 2015 to 2018. From 2020 to 2021, Barr missed 63% of all football games for the Vikings, and Minnesota’s defense suffered accordingly. In Barr’s first six seasons, the Vikings’ defense ranked #1 in the NFL per defensive EPA/Play. From 2020 to 2021 — largely without the services of Danielle Hunter and Barr — the franchise sunk to 23rd in the same metric.
In his 10-season career, Barr has tabulated 554 total tackles, 48 QB hits, 41 tackles for loss, 18.5 sacks, and five interceptions. He was also nominated for a Humanitarian Award at the ESPYs two summers ago but lost to former MLBer Albert Pujols.
Out of nowhere in 2023, Barr re-signed with the Vikings after linebacker Jordan Hicks was hospitalized with compartment syndrome. Minnesota inconveniently began losing games the moment Barr arrived, though the woes had nothing to do with him personally. In fact, the Vikings won just one game with Barr on the roster, the infamous 3-0 triumph over the Las Vegas Raiders last December.
In March, Minnesota signed veteran linebackers Blake Cashman and Kamu Grugier-Hill to replace the outgoing Barr and Hicks. Hicks ended up with the Cleveland Browns, while Barr awaits his 2024 marching orders, if any. The Dallas Cowboys would make sense as a destination because Barr played for Dallas in 2022, Mike Zimmer runs the defense, and Eric Kendricks joined the club in the spring. Zimmer also helped to manufacture a reunion with nose tackle Linval Joseph. Dalvin Cook, as well, recently signed in Dallas.
Barr, 32, could, too, have unspoken retirement plans, which would explain no free-agent nibbles or auditions since the 2023 season ended. Often, players quietly walk away without a grand announcement.
Unrelated to football, Barr’s home was burglarized in July. “Former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Anthony Barr is the latest celeb Angeleno to fall victim to crime … law enforcement tells TMZ Sports his L.A.-area pad was burglarized on Friday,” TMZ wrote two months ago. “We’re told the four-time Pro Bowler’s crib was hit at around 2 AM … when, according to our sources, three men smashed through a rear window and then ransacked the place.”
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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