Griff has been served
Vikings have submitted restructure offer to Everson Griffen
Everson Griffen
is seeing his name being brought up as a possible cap casualty as the
Minnesota Vikings look for ways to free up salary cap space for the 2019
offseason. Those rumors are not unfounded, as it appears the front
office is drawing a bit of a line in the sand about the future of the
veteran defensive end.
Multiple media reports on Tuesday have stated that the Vikings have
submitted an offer to restructure his deal in the aftermath of the Anthony Barr contract, which is set to pay the linebacker $13.5 million per season. ESPN's Courtney Cronin gives a detailed explanation below.
"It's been quiet on the Everson Griffen
front (on Tuesday), but that doesn't mean there isn't work going on
behind the scenes. I'm told that Griffen and his representation have
been approached with the terms of a restructure from the Vikings and
that the defensive end has expressed a desire to remain in Minnesota,
but doing so will probably have to come via different terms than the way
his contract is currently structured with $10.9 million of his base
salary set to become fully guaranteed on Friday. As of right now, the
ball is in Griffen's court as to whether he wants to accept the new
terms the Vikings laid forth or aim to continue his career elsewhere.
It's possible that these talks could continue on past the 3 p.m. start
of the new league year on Wednesday. Theoretically, the Vikings could
structure Anthony Barr's new deal to fit under the cap in 2019 to buy
them time to work through talks with Griffen, but in the end, whether
the DE takes a restructure is likely going to determine his future in
Minnesota."
Griffen, a fourth-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, is entering
his 10th season in the NFL, all with the Vikings. During that time, he
has racked up 66.5 career sacks in 73 career starts (132 games played).
However, last season was a bit of a struggle for the veteran pass
rusher, as he missed five games to tend to a mental health issue and
posted his lowest sack total since the 2013 season with 5.5 sacks on the
year.
He signed a contract extension with the team during training
camp in 2017 that came in at four-years, $58 million through the 2022
season. Should the Vikings decide to release or trade him, it would free
up $10.5 million in cap room with a dead cap hit of $1.2 million.
The NFL is a business, and sometimes a harsh one despite
the good faith in which contracts are signed. The Vikings would likely
love to have Griffen back on some sort of renegotiated deal, but given
his production, point in his career and the price tag, not everything
currently matches up and it does appear that he at least has lost a
little bit of a step. They have a tough decision to make in terms of
what his worth to the franchise is and it would not be a shock to see
them start to tune down his role as they did with Brian Robison, but it would be really hard to justify keeping him around at almost $11 million.
I hope he restructures and stays. Ultimately, I want what's best for the Vikings, but I think the stability that comes with staying in Minneapolis (where his family, friends, home and doctors are) is probably best for Everson as well. We'll see if he sees it that way.
@"MaroonBells" said: I hope he restructures and stays. Ultimately, I want what's best for the Vikings, but I think the stability that comes with staying in Minneapolis (where his family, friends, home and doctors are) is probably best for Everson as well. We'll see if he sees it that way.It's unbelievable how quickly things change in the NFL. Last year at this time not only did I consider Griff a team leader, but when healthy, also one of the best dominating defensive players in the league. I really felt fortunate to have him as a Viking.
Now he's looked at as a second tier player being "asked" to take a pay cut. If he says "no", he most likely will be asked to clean out his locker.
The proposed restructure would chop off the remaining 3 years of Griffen's deal, offer him a slight signing/roster bonus and turn a lot of his remaining 2019 salary into incentives. It would turn 2019 into a "prove it" year for Everson which is risky. Griffen also would prefer to stay in MN. I would say the chance of them working out a re-worked deal is high.
@"Geoff Nichols" said: The proposed restructure would chop off the remaining 3 years of Griffen's deal, offer him a slight signing/roster bonus and turn a lot of his remaining 2019 salary into incentives. It would turn 2019 into a "prove it" year for Everson which is risky. Griffen also would prefer to stay in MN. I would say the chance of them working out a re-worked deal is high.I am sure his agent knows the market, but going at this blind... I would be inclinded to say thanks for the memories and see what FA has for me. I would imagine the Vikings would understand this position and be willing to take him back if nothing else appeals to him, but to basically say I go from a 11 mill a year guy to a comeback project in 1 year.... I would want to hear it from others first.
How about a little loyalty here? His days at USC, we took a chance. His previous legal trouble, we stood by him. This past incident, we supported him. Don’t be greedy EG, you’ve made a lot of money from people who believed in you, time to honor that.
Take a heavy restructure or leave.
@"Skodin" said: How about a little loyalty here? His days at USC, we took a chance. His previous legal trouble, we stood by him. This past incident, we supported him. Don’t be greedy EG, you’ve made a lot of money from people who believed in you, time to honor that.Take a heavy restructure or leave.
I would maybe do this if they guaranteed it and my spot on the roster... i know its past and I should get over this... but after how they did BRob with his restructuring.... I would have it all in writing and guaranteed or I am going to hit FA. honestly I would like not trust Speilman to give me a fair shake and would be hitting the door already if my agent thinks he could get me as good or better elsewheree.
@"JimmyinSD" said:@"Skodin" said: How about a little loyalty here? His days at USC, we took a chance. His previous legal trouble, we stood by him. This past incident, we supported him. Don’t be greedy EG, you’ve made a lot of money from people who believed in you, time to honor that.Take a heavy restructure or leave.
I would maybe do this if they guaranteed it and my spot on the roster... i know its past and I should get over this... but after how they did BRob with his restructuring.... I would have it all in writing and guaranteed or I am going to hit FA. honestly I would like not trust Speilman to give me a fair shake and would be hitting the door already if my agent thinks he could get me as good or better elsewheree.
I guess I don’t really understand what’s in it for Everson
besides some stability in his personal life and staying part of this team. From a financial perspective I think he’d get
a comparable deal to what he’s got now with the first 2 years guaranteed. I mean how much could they be asking him to
cut off his salary? Anything below 8 or
maybe even 10 would be insulting unless he really fell off a cliff. I think we’d have to guarantee at least $20M
over the next two years to make it worth it for him financially, so I don’t see
how they could ask him to take incentives at this point in his career, unless
it was something related to games not played due to having a mental breakdown
or something.
I think loyalty is out the window here, as you mentioned
with B-Rob. You should never be asked to
take a pay demotion and then still get cut in the same offseason. He needs to see an increase in guaranteed money to want to do this.
@"JimmyinSD" said:@"Skodin" said: How about a little loyalty here? His days at USC, we took a chance. His previous legal trouble, we stood by him. This past incident, we supported him. Don’t be greedy EG, you’ve made a lot of money from people who believed in you, time to honor that.Take a heavy restructure or leave.
I would maybe do this if they guaranteed it and my spot on the roster... i know its past and I should get over this... but after how they did BRob with his restructuring.... I would have it all in writing and guaranteed or I am going to hit FA. honestly I would like not trust Speilman to give me a fair shake and would be hitting the door already if my agent thinks he could get me as good or better elsewheree.If that is the case, then I would have left him on the side of highway 100
You guys who think he's getting anything in FA aren't reading the League right, IMO.
Mental health issues that fortunately did not lead to domestic violence. But with such erratic behavior it very easily could have.
Fell off the cliff performance-wise when he returned.
Has recent injury issues.
Played a ton of snaps during his prime.
Can ignore his gap responsibility and give up the edge on runs cuz he's all about the sacks.
If ever there was a candidate for a 1 year Prove It deal it's Everson.
whats crazy is some guy (dont remember who?) at bspn had him as the leauge mvp pick going into last season. I can only hope that the cliff one falls off happens to the packers lead prick soon.
So what is taking so long? I assume Griff's agent is shopping the Vikings' offer to every other team in the league and if he can find a better deal out there, he's gone. Which means that if he ultimately agrees to the Vikings' offer it is because it better than or equal to what any other team would pay. Do we really want that?
Seems to me that offers to restructure should come with a time limit: here is your offer; it is good for 2 hours. After that, we will make you another offer, but it will not be as good as the first.
@"dadevike" said: So what is taking so long? I assume Griff's agent is shopping the Vikings' offer to every other team in the league and if he can find a better deal out there, he's gone. Which means that if he ultimately agrees to the Vikings' offer it is because it better than or equal to what any other team would pay. Do we really want that? Seems to me that offers to restructure should come with a time limit: here is your offer; it is good for 2 hours. After that, we will make you another offer, but it will not be as good as the first.
technically he cant as he is under contract.... but if his agent were to hear shit from little birdies... well I am sure that happens all the time.
@"dadevike" said: So what is taking so long? I assume Griff's agent is shopping the Vikings' offer to every other team in the league and if he can find a better deal out there, he's gone. Which means that if he ultimately agrees to the Vikings' offer it is because it better than or equal to what any other team would pay. Do we really want that? Seems to me that offers to restructure should come with a time limit: here is your offer; it is good for 2 hours. After that, we will make you another offer, but it will not be as good as the first.
I don't think your first section is legal as Griffen wasn't scheduled to be a FA, so I don't think he's allowed to tamper or have discussions with other teams. They probably are doing it anyway though.
Your second bit, I don't think would fly anywhere. That would just create a toxic culture that would do more harm than good.
@"dadevike" said: So what is taking so long? I assume Griff's agent is shopping the Vikings' offer to every other team in the league and if he can find a better deal out there, he's gone. Which means that if he ultimately agrees to the Vikings' offer it is because it better than or equal to what any other team would pay. Do we really want that? Seems to me that offers to restructure should come with a time limit: here is your offer; it is good for 2 hours. After that, we will make you another offer, but it will not be as good as the first.
dang?? entitled much?? this is his career and he can take all the way till the last minute for all we should care. its not our money. we’ll hear soon enough on whats going to happenn
@"AGRforever" said:@"dadevike" said: So what is taking so long? I assume Griff's agent is shopping the Vikings' offer to every other team in the league and if he can find a better deal out there, he's gone. Which means that if he ultimately agrees to the Vikings' offer it is because it better than or equal to what any other team would pay. Do we really want that? Seems to me that offers to restructure should come with a time limit: here is your offer; it is good for 2 hours. After that, we will make you another offer, but it will not be as good as the first.
dang?? entitled much?? this is his career and he can take all the way till the last minute for all we should care. its not our money. we’ll hear soon enough on whats going to happenn
I am actually thinking of this the other way.... why did the team wait so fucking long to approach him? they should have had this in front of his camp at least a week ago if not longer. They had to have known all offseason they were going to rework his deal.
@"JimmyinSD" said:@"AGRforever" said:@"dadevike" said: So what is taking so long? I assume Griff's agent is shopping the Vikings' offer to every other team in the league and if he can find a better deal out there, he's gone. Which means that if he ultimately agrees to the Vikings' offer it is because it better than or equal to what any other team would pay. Do we really want that? Seems to me that offers to restructure should come with a time limit: here is your offer; it is good for 2 hours. After that, we will make you another offer, but it will not be as good as the first.
dang?? entitled much?? this is his career and he can take all the way till the last minute for all we should care. its not our money. we’ll hear soon enough on whats going to happenn
I am actually thinking of this the other way.... why did the team wait so fucking long to approach him? they should have had this in front of his camp at least a week ago if not longer. They had to have known all offseason they were going to rework his deal.
The offer isn't new. They talked about it all the way back at the combine. Unless he and his camp want to agree to push his roster guarantees back there will be a decision by 11:59PM when his entire base salary would be guaranteed. As for shopping it to other teams.... not allowed.... but nobody follows that rule at all.
if they offer has been on the table so long... why didnt they have a deadline set prior to the start of FA? Also I am not sure why Griffs camp would wait until FA started to make their decision unless they are planning on taking the deal, but wanted to sting Rick a bit by waiting. IMO it would have served both parties interests to have this been finalized last weekend at the latest so Griff could have been out there at the start of FA trying to work a new deal, and the Vikes would have had his money cleared to maybe make a harder push at somebody else they were targeting. Now the Vikes are still twiddling their thumbs (so to speak, I am sure they could close this window anytime they wanted) and Griff isnt legally able to be out shopping himself.
There probably is a time expectation, because the Vikings want some cap space to sign a few more players. They can't even give a deal to someone like Nick Easton until they clear some space.
Probably due to the fact the Viking Organization thought Barr was already out the door to the Jets. Then the sudden turn around, now they are cash strapped once more.
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