5 Minnesota Vikings who won’t be with the team in 2019

Everson Griffen – DE

This one would hurt a lot of Vikings fans. Everson Griffen is a high energy player who has been with Minnesota since they drafted him in the fourth round of the 2010 Draft.

He eventually worked his way from special teams to become a dynamic pass rusher for the Vikings’ defense. The dude has totaled 66.5 sacks in his career with Minnesota and he has over 300 tackles.

The fact is though, he’s 31-years-old and due to make around $11 million next season. That’s a high number and it is also a number that looks even worse when one looks at Griffen’s stats from from 2018.

Minnesota Vikings

Yes he missed some time to work on his mental health, but he had just 5.5 sacks in 11 games and that’s his lowest sack total since 2013.

What also doesn’t work in Griffen’s favor is that Stephen Weatherly filled in more than adequately during the five games in which the veteran defensive end was out. Weatherly is much younger and a much cheaper option for the Vikings.

It’s very likely that Minnesota could look to restructure Griffen’s contract to a much more team friendly number and keep him as a lifelong member of the franchise. But there is no guarantee that he would be on board with that and he may decide to decline the Vikings’ offer, which would ultimately make him a free-agent this year.

Time will ultimately tell what happens with Griffen and Minnesota this offseason, but there’s a good chance that his career with the team may be over.

(For more NFL Draft and Vikings-related content from Nik Edlund, head on over to SkolHole.com and check out his work.)