The Vikings Have to Extend Camryn Bynum, Right?
Heading into the 2024 regular season, the Minnesota Vikings will watch safety Cam Bynum playing his final with the club. That is, of course, unless they offer him a contract extension.
The Vikings Have to Extend Camryn Bynum, Right?
Drafted in the fourth round during the 2021 NFL Draft out of California, Cam Bynum became the player that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah hoped his first overall pick the following year would be. With Lewis Cine flaming out quickly and Bynum developing into a starter role, the latter has become someone who could factor into the future.
Brian Flores worked with Bynum for the first time last season, and the Vikings safety was ranked 22nd at the position per Pro Football Focus. He started all 17 games for the second year in a row, and his 137 total tackles were a significant jump from the 81 he posted during the 2022 season. He picked off a pair of passes again and had a career-best nine passes defensed.
While it didn’t happen this offseason, the reality is that Harrison Smith is soon to be on his way out of the National Football League. At some point, the future Hall of Famer will want to hang up his cleats, which will leave the Vikings in a predicament. Josh Mettellus could return to a more traditional safety role, but he was already so valuable when utilized as Flores’ Swiss Army knife.
Cine is a cut candidate this season, and Jay Ward has yet to show he is ready as a starting defender. Theo Jackson fared nicely in limited action last year, but that may be stretched by putting him into a full-time role. It may be beneficial for the Vikings to pay Bynum prior to him putting up another year of production. His price on the open market would only increase, making his return much less straightforward.
There is still time for all of this to become a moot point. Minnesota doesn’t kick off training camp until next month, and the regular season is even further off. If Bynum is someone Adofo-Mensah wants to keep around, then showing goodwill upfront wouldn’t hurt.
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Ted Schwerzler is a blogger from the Twin Cities that is focused on all things Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings. He’s active on Twitter and writes weekly for Twins Daily. As a former college athlete and avid sports fan, covering our pro teams with a passion has always seemed like such a natural outlet.
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