Should the Minnesota Vikings re-sign Sheldon Richardson?
By Adam Patrick
Why the Vikings should not re-sign Richardson
Prior to joining the Vikings in 2018, Richardson appeared to have lost some of the ferociousness he displayed on the field during the early portion of his career. He also found his name in the news headlines for all the wrong reasons.
In 2015 when he was a member of the New York Jets, Richardson served a four-game suspension to begin the season after testing positive for marijuana. Then in 2016, he missed another contest due to a suspension that stemmed from an arrest related to reckless driving.
Frustrated with their young defensive tackle, the Jets traded Richardson to the Seattle Seahawks right before the beginning of the 2017 season.
With the Seahawks, he saw his production take a dip and it appeared like the career of the former Defensive Rookie of the Year was heading in the wrong direction.
Related Story. Vikings 2018 Review - Grading the defense. light
However, Richardson seemed to re-discover his uber amount of talent as a member of Minnesota’s roster in 2018. But is this something the Vikings can expect from him in the future if they decide to re-sign him?
Even if Minnesota may want to bring Richardson back for 2019, he could end up falling outside of their price range. The Vikings were lucky to sign him to an $8 million deal last season, but he’s probably going to be looking for a yearly salary of at least $10 million with his next contract.
If Minnesota wants to make this happen, they will also likely have to make a few big decisions that could include saying goodbye to some longtime members of their roster in order to free up some more cap space.