Greg Jennings is not the answer for Minnesota Vikings
By Dan Zinski
Greg Jennings has expressed a desire to return to the Minnesota Vikings but the veteran wide receiver does not represent the solution the Vikings need.
Three years ago the Minnesota Vikings brought former Packers WR Greg Jennings to town on a five-year deal worth $47.5 million with $18 million guaranteed. It seemed like a lot of money for a 30-year-old wide receiver with a bit of an injury history but the Vikings were desperate for receiver help after missing out on big free agent prize Mike Wallace, so they overpaid.
Jennings would go on to play two seasons in Minnesota, putting up numbers that came nowhere near justifying his contract. Last year the Vikings let Jennings walk and traded for the player they had originally wanted, Mike Wallace. As you well know, Wallace himself did not exactly work out in Minnesota and now he too is playing elsewhere.
Why do I bring this all up? Because Jennings was a guest this morning on KFAN’s Power Trip morning show and the currently-unemployed receiver made it clear that he would really love to return to Minnesota. Jennings indicated he has been in contact with Vikings GM Rick Spielman and eagerly awaits a response.
"“I left Rick a voicemail,” Jennings told KFAN this morning. “I told [them], I’m waiting on you guys.”“I miss being [in Minnesota]. You appreciate something more when it’s taken away from you.”"
Greg Jennings really loves Minnesota and really misses playing for the Vikings. Also, he doesn’t have a team right now.
Jennings also surely knows that Minnesota is in somewhat dire straits when it comes to the wide receiver position. With Mike Wallace gone, Stefon Diggs is the only wide-out on the team who really poses a threat to defenses. Teddy Bridgewater doesn’t have a lot to work with out there right now.
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The last time the Vikings were this thin at receiver, they called up Greg Jennings and gave him a lot of money. Why not give it another go with Jennings, this time on a bare-minimum veteran contract? I’ll tell you why: because Greg Jennings is done.
This is not 2013, when you could still think of Jennings as some kind of potential answer. This is 2016 and Jennings is 32-years-old and coming off a season where he looked absolutely finished.
Greg Jennings didn’t just fizzle last year in Miami, he disappeared down a black hole. After signing a two-year deal worth $8 million, Jennings was targeted just 36 times and caught just 19 balls for 208 yards and one TD. The Dolphins cut Jennings after the season to save $4 million against the cap.
In remarks to the media in February, Jennings took full responsibility for his bad performance in Miami. Just kidding. Actually, Jennings threw QB Ryan Tannehill under the bus (via ESPN):
"“I guess what I’m saying is he’s far [from elite],” Jennings said. “I’m being honest. None of us know. … It’s like he’s been handcuffed. I’ve played with Brett [Favre], I’ve played with Aaron [Rodgers]. I’ve played with great quarterbacks. So you can sense, you can quickly tell if one has it or not.”"
Veteran leadership.
Obviously Greg had a bad experience with Tannehill and the Dolphins. His experience with Teddy Bridgewater and the Vikings was much more positive and now he’d like to revisit that.
Jennings did seem to develop decent chemistry with Bridgewater when they played together in 2014 and the argument goes that the veteran could help Bridgewater again by running good routes and getting open and being a leader.
Sure, if you really believe that Jennings still has anything left at 32-going-on-33 and coming off a season where he basically evaporated.
I apologize but I’m not clamoring to relive the Greg Jennings experience. The Vikings don’t need a washed-up veteran added to a receiver corps that has one maybe-legit young weapon in Stefon Diggs, one decent complementary piece in Jarius Wright and a bunch of question marks.
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The Vikings need to upgrade their receiver talent in a serious way. They need to find wide-outs who can challenge defenses down the field either via speed or the ability to make contested catches. They need a receiver who can make defenses pay when they go man-to-man and send blitzers after Teddy Bridgewater. There aren’t any of those left in free agency, so they’ll have to find one (or two) in the draft.
The Vikings don’t need an old washed-up dink-and-dunk possession receiver coming off a year where he caught just 19 balls. Sorry Greg but the Vikings no longer have a spot for you.