The reunion between the Minnesota Vikings and Everson Griffen has been in the works for the past year. Griffen was one of the ultimate pieces for Mike Zimmer’s defense, and Griffen became one of the leaders in the Vikings’ locker room as they grew into one of the best units in the NFL in the late 2010s.
But things soured last season and the two sides may be apprehensive about working together. Still, the Vikings and Griffen have to know they need one another to succeed, and that should lead to a deal getting done.
To tell this story, we need to go back to February 2020. Griffen exercised an opt-out clause in his contract that voided the final three years of his deal. The initial thought was that Griffen was being a team player to reduce his cap number and sign a team-friendly deal that would bring him back to Minnesota.
In fact, Zimmer mentioned that possibility during his press conference at that year’s NFL Scouting Combine.
“I think our situation is the right one for him,” Zimmer said. “We expect him to be back. I think he wants to be back and those kind of things usually work its way out.”
Although both sides wanted a return, Griffen remained unsigned throughout the summer. Ultimately, he inked a one-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys, which began a tumultuous 2020 season for both Griffen and Minnesota.
The Vikings went into last season with a slew of developmental players hoping that they could step up across from Danielle Hunter. When Hunter suffered a season-ending neck injury, the Vikings were left with developmental players and traded for Yannick Ngakoue out of desperation.
Ngakoue recorded five sacks in six games but wasn’t a fit in Zimmer’s defense. When Ngakoue was traded to the Baltimore Ravens, the Vikings struggled both in getting pressure on the quarterback and stopping the run. The defense crumbled and the Vikings slogged through a 7-9 season.
While the Vikings had their issues, so did Griffen. He played the first seven games for the Cowboys before being traded to the Detroit Lions. Perhaps because he was unhappy with his situation, Griffen lashed out at Zimmer after he called him a “good” player as opposed to a great one.
The comments led to a bizarre scene during the Week 9 matchup between the Vikings and Lions. While the Vikings were on their way to a 34-20 victory, Griffen was seen storming up and down the sideline without being let into the game.
Things continued into the offseason when Griffen tweeted negative comments about Kirk Cousins and posted pictures of himself driving by TCO Performance Center on his Instagram. The sequence brought concern of the mental issues that plagued Griffen in 2018 but also memories of how the Vikings helped him get through that situation.
Maybe that’s not enough for Griffen to sign on the dotted line, but the Vikings may have enough when looking at their depth chart.
With three weeks remaining before the regular season, most of the defensive line is set. Hunter looked like the player he was before his injury during training camp and the middle is plugged up with Dalvin Tomlinson and Michael Pierce leading the way. But even with Stephen Weatherly and D.J. Wonnum on the other side, the addition of Griffen would mimic another offseason signing, Sheldon Richardson.
The Vikings may not need Richardson if Tomlinson and Pierce perform as advertised, but it was a nice role player to have in case one of them goes down. With Hercules Mata’afa, Blake Lynch, and Armon Watts behind the starters, Richardson provided an upgrade and had the talent to slide into the starting lineup if needed.
This is exactly what Griffen could provide. The days of Griffen collecting double-digit sacks are over, but it provides insurance in case Weatherly and Wonnum aren’t where Zimmer expects them to be. In a rotational role, Griffen could be good enough to give the Vikings somewhere between five to eight sacks while providing Zimmer options along the defensive line.
The best example of this was during the Vikings’ 2019 playoff win over the New Orleans Saints when Zimmer created pressure by moving Griffen and Hunter to the inside. While it may not have the same effect two years later, adding Griffen allows Zimmer to be more creative with other players like Weatherly, who thrived in a “Joker” role for the Vikings before signing with the Carolina Panthers.
That depth gives the Vikings a better chance to be successful and puts Griffen in a place where he wants to be. If the two sides can set aside their differences, the Vikings can be a better team than they were a year ago. If not, it could spell similar results for two sides that fell below expectations last year.
