A number of former Minnesota Vikings have ended up in Seattle and Tom Johnson became the latest when he signed with the Seahawks on Friday.
When he was hired to be the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, Mike Zimmer brought in a handful of new players he felt would suit the type of defense he wanted to run. One of those guys was defensive tackle Tom Johnson.
After spending three years with the New Orleans Saints, Johnson signed a one-year deal with the Vikings in 2014 to be a reserve on their defensive line.
Despite only starting two games in 2014, he had quite the productive year. In his first season with Minnesota, Johnson finished with 22 total tackles and 6.5 sacks.
After making the most of his playing time in 2014, the Vikings decided to keep Johnson around and signed him to a three-year contract during the following offseason.
Minnesota Vikings
He continued to be mainly a rotational player on Minnesota’s defensive line in 2015 and 2016, but in 2017, Johnson became the team’s full-time starting defensive tackle. In 15 starts last season, Johnson finished with 32 total tackles and two sacks.
This year, he was a free-agent once again and his chance to return to Minnesota seemed to disappear after the team agreed to a deal with Sheldon Richardson to be their new starting defensive tackle for 2018.
On Friday, it appears that Johnson has found a new home for next season as NFL Media’s Tom Perlissero reported the defensive tackle will be signing a one-year contract with the Seattle Seahawks (to replace Richardson, coincidentally).
Johnson joins a handful of former Vikings who eventually ended up with the Seahawks after their time in Minnesota including Kevin Williams, Sidney Rice, Tarvaris Jackson, Percy Harvin, Blair Walsh, Nate Burleson, John Randle, and Warren Moon.
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Outside of Burleson, none of these players ever really experienced a ton of success during their time with Seattle. Will it be a different story for Johnson?