At one point Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway had played in 115 consecutive games. That streak ended early this season when Greenway missed three games with a broken rib. Today, Greenway will miss his fourth game of the season after being ruled inactive, and one has to wonder if he hasn’t played his last game for the Vikings.
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Greenway will be 32 going into next season, and as we’ve seen this year, the physical toll of playing nearly a decade in the NFL is beginning to show. There is no way the Vikings will pay a physically diminished, 32-year-old Greenway the $7 million base salary he is owed for 2015, so a decision will have to be made.
The Vikings could elect to renegotiate with Greenway and bring down his $8.8 million cap number for next season. Greenway has indicated that he would like to finish out his career in Minnesota, so perhaps he would be amenable to re-doing his deal one more time.
But the wiser move might be to simply cut Greenway, eat the $1.7 million in dead money left on his deal and move on with someone younger at outside linebacker.
Greenway can still play in the NFL, but his skills are only going to keep eroding from here on out, and after all the injuries you have to wonder about his durability. His veteran leadership does have value but you have to weigh those intangibles against what he actually brings in terms of on-field performance.
If you’re looking at things purely from a talent point-of-view, there is no question that Gerald Hodges brings more to the table than Greenway. Hodges has made some mistakes this season but he’s also flashed big-time ability, and there is no doubt that he is a more versatile, dynamic player right now than Greenway.
If the Vikings are going to be true to their building-with-youth philosophy, there is no way they can justify keeping a player like Greenway if it means relegating a player like Hodges to the bench.
We will have to see how things play out this offseason between Greenway and the Vikings, but there is a very good chance we’ve seen the last of Greenway in purple. He was a strong player for Minnesota for years, a little overrated by the national media and some fans but overall an asset to the squad. And he is by all accounts a heck of a guy.