Vikings lose another offensive lineman to free agency

Free agent offensive lineman Tom Compton will not be returning to the Minnesota Vikings in 2019 after agreeing to join the New York Jets on Monday.

Following the big free-agent signing of quarterback Kirk Cousins last year, the Minnesota Vikings went out and also added a player to their offensive line in Tom Compton that their new signal-caller was very familiar with.

Cousins and Compton were teammates for four seasons when both were members of the Washington Redskins from 2012 to 2015. Now, it appears that their friendship will have to take place outside of Minnesota’s facilities as the veteran offensive lineman is joining a new team for next season.

On Monday, the New York Jets announced that they have agreed to a deal with Compton and he will be a member of their roster for 2019. Hopefully this will help Jets fans recover a little faster after Anthony Barr decided to change his mind and not sign with New York last week.

For Compton, the Jets will be his fifth team in the last five years. During this time period, he has appeared in a total of 54 games for the Redskins, Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, and Chicago Bears.

With Minnesota last season, Compton was supposed to just be a utility blocker for the team to have when their starters would miss time due to injury. But after Nick Easton suffered a season-ending neck injury during the preseason, the Vikings turned to Compton to be their starting left guard for 2018.

He got off to a decent start last season. But as the weeks went by, it was pretty clear that Compton was not going to last very long in Minnesota. In 14 starts with the Vikings last year, he allowed a total of 34 quarterback pressures, which included seven sacks.

Despite their need for offensive line depth, Compton leaving shouldn’t be regarded as a loss for Minnesota. It shouldn’t be hard for the Vikings to find a capable blocker replace his roster spot this offseason.

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