Michael Floyd hitting the reset button with the Minnesota Vikings
Floyd looks to move on from his troubled past and hopes coming home to Minnesota is exactly what he needs to rebuild his NFL career.
Michael Floyd entered last season with big expectations as a member of the high-powered offense of the Arizona Cardinals. However, he struggled with inconsistent play and dropped passes that hurt the Cardinals.
Floyd’s season continued to get worse when he was arrested for DUI on December 12, 2016. The Cardinals quickly released the wide receiver on December 14. With Arizona in 2016, he played in 13 games and finished with a total of 33 receptions, 446 yards receiving and four touchdowns.
The New England Patriots ended up claiming Floyd off waivers on December 15. He appeared in two games for the Patriots and his final numbers in those two games totaled were four receptions, 42 receiving yards and one touchdown. Nonetheless, he was deactivated for Super Bowl LI and became a free-agent after the end of last season.
Now Floyd, a native of Minnesota, has come home after signing a one-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings on May 10. The 6-foot-3, 220 pound receiver went to Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, Minnesota.
After starring at Cretin-Derham Hall, Floyd went on to play his college career with Notre Dame. He ended up getting selected with the 13th overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft by the Cardinals. His best NFL season so far was back in 2013 when he finished with 65 receptions, 1,041 receiving yards and five touchdowns.
Minnesota is a place where Floyd can rebuild his career. Especially since Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer has dealt with athletes who have had a trouble past before. While being the defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals, Zimmer coached a number of athletes with a troubled backgrounds such as Adam Pacman Jones and Vontaze Burfict.
Zimmer has the respect of the players in Minnesota’s locker room and his zero-tolerance policy for getting into any trouble will help Floyd focus on football. Zimmer helped Jones become a very strong asset for the Bengals’ defense and is looking to make Floyd a strong asset for the Vikings’ offense.
The Notre Dame product has stood out at Vikings training camp with some great catches so far. Floyd has shown his skills with a few one-handed catches and the ability to tip-toe the sidelines.
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For Minnesota in 2017, he brings a veteran presence to their young wide receiver group. Floyd has played in 78 regular season games and four playoff games during his career. He has played in more games than any other receiver on the team as Jarius Wright ends up being the second most experienced Vikings receiver with 63 regular season games and two playoff games under his belt.
The former 13th overall draft pick could be a difference maker for Minnesota’s offense this year. The Vikings want to open the passing game up and Floyd could be a huge part of it.
However, the receiver was unfortunately suspended for the first four games of this season. He violated his house arrest by testing positive for alcohol back in June, but he claimed it was from Kombucha tea in which Zimmer and the Vikings organization believe their wide receiver is telling the truth.
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So Floyd will be eligible to play come Week 5 when Minnesota faces off against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football. Hopefully the Vikings’ new receiver will help the team prevent a similar outcome from last year’s game in Chicago happen again this season.