Anthony Barr admits the thought of leaving Minnesota ‘didn’t feel right’
By Adam Patrick
The Minnesota Vikings linebacker met with the local media on Thursday and talked about his decision to re-sign with the team that drafted him in 2014.
Heading into the 2019 offseason, there were many who believed that linebacker Anthony Barr would not be returning to the Minnesota Vikings. Given his talent level, Barr’s price tag was assumed to just be too expensive for the Vikings to get any sort of deal done.
In the end, however, the linebacker actually turned down more money from the New York Jets to re-sign with Minnesota this year. That’s how much he has loved playing for the Vikings since they drafted him in 2014.
On Thursday, Barr revealed that he actually gave a verbal commitment to his agent to tell the Jets that he was going to accept their offer. The linebacker then said that he immediately felt like he had made the wrong choice.
"“I didn’t know if things were going to work out (in Minnesota). I knew I had an opportunity to go elsewhere and it was like kind of right in front of my face. It felt like I jumped and then I (thought), ‘oh man, what did I just do?’ And instantly just didn’t feel right about it.”"
After having second thoughts about leaving the Vikings, Barr said he called his agent and told him he didn’t want to sign with New York after all. The 26-year-old linebacker and Minnesota were eventually able to agree to a new five-year deal worth $67.5 million to keep him in the Twin Cities for even longer.
During his press conference on Thursday, Barr used words like “home”, “love”, and “culture” to explain his desire to re-sign with the Vikings. He also admitted that Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer played a, “huge role,” in him coming back to the team and that he would, “go to war for (Zimmer) any day.”
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The Vikings were very close to losing one of the most important pieces of their defense earlier this week. But thanks to the work of the organization and their head coach over the past few years, Barr is in for the long haul with Minnesota.