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Will Pass-Rusher Market impact Vikings on EG?
#1
Everson Griffen is one of the best defensive players in Minnesota Vikings history. His success is one of the great accomplishments of Mike Zimmer’s (and Andre Patterson’s) tenure. He might one day end up in the Vikings’ ring of honor. But decisions in the NFL are never about what you have done in the past. For Griffen, his success between 2014 and 2017 won’t mean as much to the team’s decision as his 2018 production and 2019 cap hit.

That decision is likely to come before March 15, according to the Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling, who wrote that Griffen’s $10.9 base salary for 2019 becomes guaranteed on that date. They can release him before then for $1.2 million in dead cap or re-work his contract.

The March 15 deadline gives the Vikings two full days of free agency before making a final call on their Pro Bowl defensive ends. A free agent pool chock full of impressive pass rushers could influence the Vikings’ thinking on Griffen.
At age 31, he will be coming off a season in which he set his lowest sack total during Zimmer’s time in Minnesota and his lowest pressure total (per Pro Football Focus) since 2011, when he was a rotational rusher.
Considering he missed five games with a mental health issue, it’s difficult to tell whether he would bounce back quickly or if Griffen will ever return to form. Keeping him in the fold could be more risky than using the cap space that would be created (more than $10 million) by cutting him to spend on a free agent edge rusher.
Some of the players on the market are around five years younger and fly in the same air as Griffen as disrupters of opponents’ passing games...
https://www.skornorth.com/vikings-2/2019...n-griffen/
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#2
Add to that a couple really good DEs In the draft, the market is bloated...
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#3
Hate to say it, but...
[Image: 28132854.jpg]
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#4
Why not play weatherly?  he looked pretty good when he was in. 
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#5
Quote: @AGRforever said:
Why not play weatherly?  he looked pretty good when he was in. 
Weatherly and Danielle, I can live with that. 

Now losing Barr, Richardson (?) and EG off the D in one year? Kinda scares me a little bit. 


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#6
Quote: @purplefaithful said:
@AGRforever said:
Why not play weatherly?  he looked pretty good when he was in. 
Weatherly and Danielle, I can live with that. 

Now losing Barr, Richardson (?) and EG off the D in one year? Kinda scares me a little bit. 



Of that bunch, I'd like to keep Barr.  Richardson disappointed me and we may have seen the best years of EG.
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#7
I'm not super stoked on Weatherly yet, plus it takes you from a upper level DE rotation to an ok pair of DEs.  If you add in a FA pass rusher that's better than EG, you are almost certainly going to be paying more.
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#8
The article is a bit of a fantasy really.  Clowney, Lawrence, & Flowers are probably not going to hit the market and the Vikings could not afford to give them close to 20 mil per season anyway.
Ford is not a fit.  Fowler Jr probably stays with the Rams after they traded a 3rd and 5th for him.  That leaves Ansah, Wake, Curry, Graham, & Michael Johnson as other options.
The market is not really that great at all when you consider that the top players likely get tagged or stay with their current teams and that they are too expensive anyway.
Griffen's situation is independent of the market.  It is unique and if he does not agree to a pretty drastic pay cut (Vinny Curry money - 7 mil py) then they would be wise to try and trade him.
I would offer him to Oakland for Osemele in a straight up deal if Oakland wants to move Osemele.
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#9
Quote: @medaille said:
I'm not super stoked on Weatherly yet, plus it takes you from a upper level DE rotation to an ok pair of DEs.  If you add in a FA pass rusher that's better than EG, you are almost certainly going to be paying more.

Fair, but I think we need to assess how much of the Vikings' pressure is about system vs. individual talent. It's always a combination, but I think Zimmer and Patterson get better results from players than they would achieve elsewhere (like Tom Johnson).
And is EG still an "upper level DE"?


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#10
I also tend to believe @Jor-El said:
Quote:
@medaille said:
I'm not super stoked on Weatherly yet, plus it takes you from a upper level DE rotation to an ok pair of DEs.  If you add in a FA pass rusher that's better than EG, you are almost certainly going to be paying more.

Fair, but I think we need to assess how much of the Vikings' pressure is about system vs. individual talent. It's always a combination, but I think Zimmer and Patterson get better results from players than they would achieve elsewhere (like Tom Johnson).
And is EG still an "upper level DE"?
I tend to believe that, but am I the only one here who thinks that Zimmer's play calling was lacking and predictable last year. His defense seemed much more passive last year.  I don't think it works unless you play a lot of press, man coverage and send unexpected blitzes. And he played a lot more zone with fewer blitzes, and the front four couldn't get home for long stretches. Although I realize the offense didn't allow the rest the defense needed in crucial games.
My memory of 2018 is Chicago Bears offensive line pushing Joseph and Richardson 4 and 5 yards backwards over and over again in both games; even when they knew the run was coming.
I'm not so sure the EG question will be relevant if they can't stop the run!





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