Should they stay or go? 2017 Vikings free-agents: Cordarrelle Patterson

It is time for Minnesota to let Patterson walk:

After four years, the Vikings were likely hoping that Patterson’s progression as a wide receiver would be much farther along than it is right now. But he was pretty raw when he was drafted back in 2013 and a good portion of the blame has to be placed on Minnesota for thinking the pass catcher would be a short-term project.

In both 2014 and 2015, he was basically a non-factor on the offense. Whether or not that had to do with Patterson’s lack of improvement or decisions made by the coaching staff, half of his NFL career has been a bit of a waste.

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Last season, his snaps on offense saw a dramatic increase and so did his final statistics as a result. Patterson seemed to put in a bit more effort into training before the start of the 2016 season. But was that due to his desire to improve or because he was in the final year of his contract and he wanted to make himself some more money in his second NFL contract?

Speaking of making more money, the receiver may be able to sign a more lucrative contract from a team other than the Vikings this offseason. A team with a boatload of cap space may be more willing to pay Patterson a little more than he is actually worth in order to get him to sign with them.

If that ends up being the case, it would be smarter for Minnesota to just let him join another team and avoid overpaying the receiver who may not even continue his progression as a pass catcher over the next few years.