REPORT: Punter Marquette King drawing interest from Minnesota Vikings
By Adam Carlson
After being released by the Oakland Raiders, it is being reported that the Minnesota Vikings are showing interest in free agent punter Marquette King.
Minnesota Vikings punter Ryan Quigley accomplished something very impressive during the 2017 NFL season when a single one of his punts did not end up in the end zone for a touchback during the regular season.
Despite his solid efforts on special teams, the Vikings are seemingly willing to explore other options when it comes to who will be punting the ball during the 2018 season according to a recent report.
According to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press on Twitter, Minnesota is expressing interest in a former Oakland Raiders player who was released on Friday, March 30. 2018.
Source said the #Vikings have inquired about punter Marquette King, released today by Oakland. Vikings punter Ryan Quigley is under contract in 2018 for a nonguaranteed $790,000.
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) March 30, 2018
Marquette King ranked 6th in the NFL in average yards per punt last season according to ESPN’s stats.
Minnesota Vikings
On 69 punts, King landed 28 inside the opponent’s 20-yard line with 6 of those resulting in a touchback.
While King is a more established punter than Quigley, it is moderately surprising to see the team show such immediate interest in the former Raiders special teams player. Despite having no guaranteed money on his contract, Quigley is set to make only $790,000 during 2018.
Signing 29-year-old King would likely be a considerably larger hit against the salary cap, which is already stretched out after signing quarterback Kirk Cousins, defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, and wide receiver Kendall Wright, but would also provide more stability than going forward with Quigley.
With Minnesota bringing back kicker Kai Forbath, return man Marcus Sherels, and long snapper Kevin McDermott expected to be ready for next season, the only real question mark now is at punter where it will be interesting to see just how interested the Vikings are in King, who was an undrafted free agent in 2012.
Next: Which remaining 2018 free-agents could the Vikings sign?
Do you think the Minnesota Vikings should sign Marquette King despite the solid performance from Ryan Quigley last season? Let us know what you think the team should do heading into the 2018 NFL season in the comments section below!