With Hunter’s extension, focus now shifts to Barr, Diggs, and Waynes

Trae Waynes:

Waynes, while certainly not without his faults, has steadily improved as a player under head coach Mike Zimmer. In the second half of last season, he proved to be a reliable piece of the Vikings’ defense, even drawing praise from Zimmer, despite being the fifth-most targeted cornerback in the NFL last year.

The job that Waynes is asked to do is quite the challenge as often times quarterbacks target him more throughout the course of a game largely to avoid giving Xavier Rhodes opportunities to make plays. And while there are still areas of pass coverage where Waynes can still grow, he has been outstanding against the run.

A team can never have enough productive corners in the secondary. Obviously, Minnesota has an All-Pro corner in Rhodes and there’s also a lot of promise for rookie cornerback Mike Hughes, who  could very well turn out to be great one day.

After that, the Vikings cannot expect Terrance Newman to remain on the team much longer as he will be playing in his 16th season in 2018 and turning 40-years-old in September. So Minnesota’s third corner on their depth chart this year is maybe Mackensie Alexander?

If the Vikings believe that Waynes can continue to improve and get better, it makes sense to sign him to an extension next (as long as the price is right of course).