Josh Oliver, TE, Baltimore Ravens
Marcus Davenport, Edge, New Orleans Saints
The Vikings spent the second day of the “legal tampering” period re-signing four of their own pending free agents. They also restructured the contract of Kirk Cousins. That opened up some of the salary cap space needed to do the things that they need to do. Yesterday was a busy day. It started with the re-signing of four of their own.
Garrett Bradbury, C
Nick Mullens, QB
Greg Joseph, K
Andrew DePaola, LS
Garrett Bradbury and Andrew DePoala signed three-year deals. Nick Mullens and Greg Joseph signed one-year deals. The re-signing of Bradbury insures that the Vikings will return all five of their starting offensive linemen. Continuity on the offensive line is a good thing. A first round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, Bradbury’s play was often rough over his first three years in the league. He was much better last season but the overall play of the interior of the offensive line must improve. Hopefully, another year together and another year in the same system with the same coaches will help them improve. With Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill, the Vikings have high level play on the outside. They need the interior of the offensive line to play much closer to that level. The re-signing of Joseph and DePaola reunites them with punter Ryan Wright. The Vikings will return their kicking battery. Continuity is important. Joseph had five game-winning field goals last season. One was from 61 yards. Despite those game-ending heroics, he had some very frustrating moments. He must stop missing extra points. He must make more of his kicks from beyond 50 yards. He has the leg for distance. He proved it with that 61-yarder. Nick Mullens played the bulk of the Week 18 game against the Chicago Bears. It was nice to see a competent, confident backup quarterback. I had no confidence in the previous quarterbacks that backed up Cousins.
It was a busy Day 2 of the “legal tampering” period. The Vikings got some important internal stuff done. Then they addressed perhaps their biggest offseason need: Cornerback. The Vikings agreed to terms with Arizona Cardinals corner Byron Murphy Jr. He was one of the best man-to-man defenders available in free agency. At 25, he was also one of the youngest. Put mildly, the Vikings defense wasn’t very good last year. They had to get faster and younger. Adding Marcus Davenport and Murphy is a welcome step in that direction. New Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores likes to bring pressure and rely on his corners in single coverage. Murphy is a perfect fit for that aggressive play. A former Cardinal replaces a former Cardinal as the leader of the Vikings cornerback group. Murphy will also likely take on Patrick Peterson’s #7 jersey.
On Day 2, the Vikings retained some of their own free agents and a cornerback that the defense desperately needed. Despite the ridiculous number of players across the league that have changed teams over the last two days, free agency actually starts today. Josh Oliver, Marcus Davenport, and Byron Murphy Jr. can actually become Vikings today. It should be an interesting day. With the restructure of Cousins’ contract, the Vikings were briefly under the salary cap. They need to do some more maneuvering to remain under the salary cap when the new league year starts at 4pm eastern. A trade of Za’Darius Smith? A Harrison Smith contract restructure? We’ll see. The past two days have been eventful. That should continue with the actual start of free agency.
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