As a Vikings fan, free agency has always felt daunting. For some reason, we are never under the cap and never have ample money to spend. This leads to us parting ways with franchise favorites and elite ballers. We somewhat saw that this year with the release of Eric Kendricks and Adam Thielen, and defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson signing with the Browns. But we’re seeing a change in upper management. In years past, we wouldn’t have had something to look forward to as players walked or were released. This year though, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has treated this offseason like a true professional. It sucks getting rid of guys like Kendricks and Thielen, but he realized the importance of cap hit and by getting rid of those players, it opened up the avenue to sign defensive help.
Marcus Davenport
On Monday, the Vikings signed Saints defensive end Marcus Davenport to a 1 year, 13 million dollar deal. It hasn’t been made clear yet what the details of his contract are and how much money is guaranteed, but with Za’Darius Smith requesting to be released Minnesota needed to find an edge rusher to play on the opposite side of Danielle Hunter.
Over his five years in New Orleans, Davenport has delivered mixed results. His best season came in 2021 when he recorded 9 sacks. He also has three seasons under 5 sacks with the most recent year being 2022 when he tallied 0.5 sacks and 29 tackles. One other concern about Davenport is the fact that he hasn’t played a full season. The most games he has played in a season is fifteen.
While many people would look at his up and down production and want to stay for away from him, it’s what he does to help other players on the field that stands out in his film. In the past two seasons over 26 games, Davenport has 35 quarterback pressures, 12 quarterback knockdowns, and 12 hurries. I’m excited about this addition as it’s another strong defensive lineman to chase after Justin Fields and Jared Goff.
Byron Murphy
Before the offseason really kicked off, it appeared that Patrick Peterson would be back in purple. That was not the case. He ended up inking a 2 year, 14 million dollar deal with the Steelers. As much as I liked having him on the Vikings and the way he came up big in huge moments, his age and asking price didn’t seem to be a smart re-signing for the Vikings and I agree with not bringing him back. Minnesota also waived twenty four year old corner Cam Dantzler. This move was a little more puzzling as he was young and decently productive making 50 tackles and breaking up 5 passes in 2022.
To combat the losses of Patrick Peterson and Cam Dantzler, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah scoured the market. He signed another former Cardinal in 25 year old Byron Murphy. I love this signing. Absolutely love it. Last season he made 36 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries, and 4 pass breakups. Since entering the league in 2019, Murphy has 5 interceptions and 34 pass breakups. He signed a 2 year, 22 million dollar contract late Tuesday night and will be the Vikings new number one corner.
Murphy is back in purple and it’s a good look on him. He’s an alum from the University of Washington and his versatility in zone and man coverage has been displayed his entire career. He’ll be a great matchup with D.J. Moore, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Christian Watson.
Kwesi Keeps Cooking
While Davenport and Murphy have been highlight signings thus far, the Vikings front office has made other substantial moves. They re-signed long snapper Andrew DePaola to a 3 year, 4.02 million dollar deal. It’s not a move that’ll light the world on fire, but it is an important one as DePaola was a Pro Bowler in 2022 and made First Team All-Pro. Staying on the special teams front, the Vikings re-signed kicker Greg Joseph to a 1 year, 2 million dollar contract. In 2022, Joseph went 27-34 on field goals and 43-49 on extra points. His long from last season was from sixty one yards.
The Vikings have also retained backup quarterback Nick Mullens on a 2 year, 4 million dollar contract. Mullens saw action in four games last season passing for 224 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception.
Even though the Vikings made a deal for T.J. Hockenson last season, they went out and grabbed more tight end depth adding Josh Oliver on a 3 year, 21 million dollar deal with 10.75 million guaranteed. In 2022, Oliver caught 27 passes for 175 yards, and 2 touchdowns with Baltimore. While this may appear to be a lot of money for a guy who wasn’t overly productive, Oliver is an exceptional run blocker. According to PFF, out of 53 tight ends with over 200 blocking snaps in 2022, Oliver ranked number one. That alone makes this signing worth every penny. Minnesota was tied with the Rams for the fifth least rushing yards last season with only 1,661 yards. Oliver should be able to help up those numbers.
Why Did Minnesota Bring Back Garrett Bradbury?
The one move I hate from the Vikings front office thus far is the re-signing of center Garrett Bradbury on a 3 year, 15.75 million dollar deal. While he didn’t have a terrible season last year allowing 2 sacks on 809 snaps with a PFF grade of 70.2%, he’s not a player the Vikings should have signed on a long term contract. He was exposed in the run game against Dexter Lawrence when the Vikings played the Giants in the playoffs and is part of the reason Kirk Cousins faced so much pressure. On 57 snaps against the Giants, he committed one penalty and had a PFF grade of 45.4%.
The only logical explanation on bringing him back is that the center market isn’t great. Conor McGovern was too far out of their price range and Jason Kelce and Rodney Hudson are too old. My only gripe is them not taking a run Ethan Pocic. Cleveland re-signed Pocic to a 3 year, 18 million dollar contract. That’s an eerily similar deal to the one given to Bradbury by the Vikings. Last season, Pocic filled in for the injured Nick Harris and had his best career season. He played 819 snaps allowing 2 sacks and committing one penalty with a PFF grade of 78.9%.
As we approach the draft, I think Minnesota should look to target Bradbury’s eventual replacement. In the first round they could look to trade back and grab Ohio State’s Luke Wypler. If that’s not the plan, then trade into the second round to draft Steve Avila from TCU or John Michael Schmitz from Minnesota.
