Minnesota Vikings pick up 5th year option on Rhodes and Floyd
By Adam Carlson
At the deadline for deciding on fifth year options on 2013 rookies, the Minnesota Vikings decided use that power to secure Xavier Rhodes and Sharrif Floyd.
It isn’t much of a surprise that the Minnesota Vikings decided to lock down defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd and cornerback Xavier Rhodes for a fifth year by using the option in their rookie contracts. According to the TwinCities.com Pioneer Press website, the franchise made this call well before today’s deadline.
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The team loves the production they’ve seen from Xavier Rhodes. After a rough start where he drew many penalties with his physical play, Rhodes has seemed to find his stride in the NFL and become one of the better cornerbacks in the NFL who is still putting the finishing touches on his technique.
Sharrif Floyd dropped in the 2013 NFL Draft with worries about his arm size, but has played big time football in the trenches for Minnesota. Him and Linval Joseph have combined to form a great pass rushing tandem front, but still need to work on finding an answer to why the Vikings give up so many rushing yards up the middle.
These two players appear to be long-term answers at their positions, but the same thing can’t be said about wide receiver/kick returner Cordarrelle Patterson. Patterson was also eligible to for a fifth year option did not have the team make that call on him. That means that unless Patterson and the Minnesota Vikings work out a deal before his contract expires, the wide receiver will become a free agent at the end of the 2016 NFL season.
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Congratulations go out to defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd and defensive back Xavier Rhodes for working hard and earning a big payday on the fifth year option and knowing the team values their production. With both of these guys, odds are that the team will want to work out long-term deals and lock them down for as long as possible to keep the young stars a part of this growing and developing franchise.