Chad Greenway will retire after 2016 season

Chad Greenway re-signed with the Minnesota Vikings and revealed that the 2016 season will be his last.

The Minnesota Vikings have brought back veteran linebacker Chad Greenway for one last rodeo, and indeed it will be his last.

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Greenway means to call it quits after the 2016 season. This information was revealed to the Star-Trib by Greenway himself.

In Greenway’s own words, he just wanted to go out a Viking.

Now the question is, will Greenway go out as a starter, a significant role-player or a mere veteran bench-warmer who provides lots of leadership?

In the months since the season ended, the Vikings have made several moves to shore up their depth at the Will linebacker position, signing free agents Emmanuel Lamur (a Zimmer fav from the Bengals) and Travis Lewis, and bringing back Audie Cole.

It’s certainly possible that Greenway, who remains scrappy even at the age of 33 and obviously knows the defense, could win the starting Will job outright in camp. Even though those new free agent pick-ups are much younger and more athletic, and also arguably more versatile, than him.

Lewis and Lamur (sounds like a comedy duo) are the unknown quantities in this equation. Neither guy has ever established himself as a starter before, but both have had flashes of good performance and with coaching from Zimmer, could take a step up.

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Audie Cole is probably not a threat to lock down a starting job but he’s in the mix too. And the Vikings could still go linebacker in the draft (though it seems increasingly unlikely that they will address the position in the first couple rounds).

Among all the options, Greenway is the known quantity. It will be interesting watching him and the other linebackers duke it out in camp. But that’s a long way away yet. For today, it’s all good vibes.