On Thursday, the Minnesota Vikings revealed that they had agreed to a deal with former New York Jets offensive lineman Dakota Dozier.
Despite not having a ton of money to currently spend, the Minnesota Vikings are sill finding ways to try and improve their offensive line this offseason. The Vikings have already re-signed Brett Jones and added free agent Josh Kline to the unit this year and now the team has added another new blocker to their roster.
Minnesota announced the signing of free agent offensive lineman Dakota Dozier on Thursday. Dozier has spent the last five seasons as a member of the New York Jets.
The Vikings’ latest addition to their offensive line is most likely to bolster their depth. Despite keeping a job in the NFL for the last five years, Dozier has only seven starts to his name.
During his career with the Jets, he has never been on the field for more than 248 snaps in a single season. In 2018, Dozier started in two games for New York (one at left guard and one at left tackle) and he gave up zero sacks and just one quarterback pressure.
He’s actually only ever given up one sack during his entire time in the league. However, lack of playing time has certainly helped Dozier achieve this.
Current Minnesota offensive line coach Rick Dennison likely had a hand in the team adding the 27-year-old blocker. Dennison spent the 2018 season with Dozier and the Jets as their offensive line coach.
It’s not the most exciting addition in the world. But Thursday’s signing could prove to be a useful one with the Vikings switching over to an offensive scheme that Dozier became familiar with when working under Dennison in New York.
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