An NFL team with a three-win and a five win season in the last three seasons has many needs. That's how it was for the Minnesota Vikings as they approached free agency. Those needs numbered at least these: A veteran quarterback that would likely start but also compete with Christian Ponder and a rookie, or two. A defensive end. A defensive tackle. Cornerbacks. It's been said that you can never have enough cornerbacks. For far too long the Vikings have rarely had more than one NFL-quality starting corner. There's been a few years when they didn't have even that. There are some other areas of concern but those needs topped the list as the Vikings try to get to a more respectable level of football.
Before free agency started on Tuesday, the Vikings re-signed quarterback Matt Cassel and defensive end Everson Griffen. Within the first couple of hours of free agency they signed former New York Giants defensive tackle Linval Jospeh. Last year, the Vikings defensive line of Jared Allen, Kevin Williams, Fed Evans, and Brian Robison were all over or near thirty years of age. Their defensive line heading into the 2014 season of Everson Griffen, Linval Joseph, Sharrif Floyd, and Brian Robison is bigger, quicker, and much younger. Outside of Robison, they are under 26. The Vikings have missed a large, run-stuffing presence in the middle of the line since Pat Williams played his last game in 2010. It's taken four years and Williams' replacement has finally been found in Linval Joseph. He should keep the linebackers clean and happy. The Vikings then turned their attention to cornerback. On Thursday they signed former Carolina Panthers corner Captain Munnerlyn. The nice thing about Munnerlyn, besides his name, is that he can start opposite Xavier Rhodes in the base defense and slide inside in the nickel defense. The Vikings secondary was a mess last year. Part of the problem was forcing Josh Robinson into the nickel role. It was a disaster. A slot receiver can go in so many more directions than an outside receiver. Nickel corners have a lot of ground to cover so the transition from the outside to the inside is not so easy. It definitely wasn't for Robinson. He's far more capable, even promising, on the outside. If the Vikings had to play a game today, Rhodes and Munnerlyn would start in the base defense. Rhodes, Munnerlyn, and Robinson would likely be the three corners in the nickel. With the passing in today's NFL, teams are in the nickel a lot of the time. Shortly after Munnerlyn was signed, the Vikings added former San Diego Chargers corner Derek Cox to a one-year "prove it" contract. This is a low risk, high reward signing. Cox showed a lot of promise in his first four years with the Jacksonville Jaguars. That promise translated into a nice contract from the Chargers in free agency last year. For some reason, his game completely fell apart last season. He was benched and then released at the end of the seaon. If head coach Mike Zimmer and secondary coach Jerry Gray can put Cox's game back together, this could be a terrific signing. Besides, you can never have enough cornerbacks.
Besides Cassel and Griffen, the Vikings also re-signed corner/punt returner Marcus Sherels, linebacker/special teams standout Larry Dean, offensive lineman Joe Berger, defensive tackle Fred Evans, receiver Jerome Simpson, and former Vikings and more recently former Arizona Cardinals linebacker Jasper Brinkley. It's always good to re-sign your own free agents.
It's amazing what only a few additions and the retention of your own free agents can do for a team. The Vikings have set themselves up nicely for the draft. They haven't fixed everything in the first four days of free agency but they've filled the most significant holes. The draft should fill the rest and provide some depth.
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