Greg Jennings Has Been Cut By the Vikings

The other shoe has dropped. Yesterday the Vikings traded for Mike Wallace and his $9.9 million salary for 2015, and today the team cut Greg Jennings and his $8.9 million salary.

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Knowing Rick Spielman, it seemed unlikely that the team would carry two receivers at such high numbers. It was thought that Jennings might accept a contract restructure in order to stay in Minnesota but apparently that was not the case.

Cutting Jennings saves the Vikings $5 million on the cap with $6 million going into dead money. The Vikings could also elect to cut LB Chad Greenway, who is set to make $7 million this season.

After signing in 2013 on a 5-year/$45 million deal, Jennings put up two fairly nondescript seasons in circumstances that were less-than-ideal.

The 2013 season was marred by a quarterback merry-go-round situation that saw Christian Ponder, Josh Freeman and Matt Cassel rotate through. With all that upheaval, Jennings was able to muster just 804 yards on 68 receptions with 4 TDs.

2014 again featured more QB turmoil with Matt Cassel starting the season, then going down with injury, then Teddy Bridgewater taking over for all-but-one game. Bridgewater settled in as the season progressed and the Vikings’ passing game improved, but still Jennings posted only mediocre overall numbers: 742 yards on 59 catches with 6 TDs.

Though Jennings did at times show himself to still be an effective receiver, and was at all times a solid leader and community presence, he never came close to living up to his contract.

Truth is, the Vikings were desperate when they signed Jennings. They wanted Mike Wallace but Wallace didn’t want them. Needing some kind of receiving weapon to help Christian Ponder, the Vikes overpaid for Jennings.

With the trade for Wallace, the opportunity arose for Rick Spielman to have a do-over on the 2013 free agency period. He traded a draft pick for the guy he wanted and now he has cut the guy he didn’t really want.

Mike Wallace is making a lot of money too, but he has a better chance to live up to that contract than Jennings did. By making these two moves, Spielman has arguably improved the Vikings’ receiver corps even if he has sacrificed leadership and PR points in the process.

But it ain’t about having nice guys, or even happy guys: it’s about winning.

Next: Vikings Had Interest In Devin McCourty

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