Pair of Vikings among this year’s top 25 NFL free-agents
By Adam Patrick
Minnesota Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr and defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson are included on a recent list of the NFL’s top 25 free-agents available this offseason.
When the Minnesota Vikings decided to sign quarterback Kirk Cousins to a big, $84 million contract last year, they knew they were likely going to have to part ways with some pretty talented players in the future.
Some of those sacrifices will have to be made this offseason as the Vikings just don’t have enough cap space currently to re-sign all of their upcoming free-agents, especially linebacker Anthony Barr and defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson.
Barr and Richardson are expected to command a bunch of money on the free-agent market this year and recently, they were included on NFL.com’s list of the top 25 NFL free-agents of 2019.
Compiled together by Gregg Rosenthal, Barr comes in on the list at No. 11 and Richardson is right behind the linebacker at No. 12.
On the Minnesota linebacker, Rosenthal wrote that it’s concerning that Barr wasn’t able to perform at a high level on a consistent basis despite playing in a defense led by Mike Zimmer. That’s certainly an assessment that’s pretty hard to disagree with.
As for Richardson, Rosenthal believes that the veteran defensive tackle’s play kind of tapered off toward the end of last season. That’s not entirely correct, however, since Richardson earned most of his sacks during the second half of 2018.
dark. Next. Should the Vikings re-sign Anthony Barr?
As far as the Vikings are concerned, they may be able to retain one of these two talented defenders this year. But unless they make some other moves to generate more cap space, both Barr and Richardson likely won’t be suiting up in a Minnesota uniform next season.