6 free-agent safeties the Vikings could sign in 2020

Karl Joseph

The final target is someone that will fly under the radar of most teams, but is someone who has played well enough that he could come at a cheaper price which would be attractive to a team like the Vikings.

That target is Karl Joseph, who was a first-round pick by the Oakland…um…Las Vegas Raiders in the 2016 NFL Draft, but never made the impact many were expecting him to make.

Joseph played in 49 games for the Raiders since coming into the league, but his impact plays were never were to be found. He’s come up with just four interceptions during that time and with one forced fumble, he represents an Office Space moment that would have Jon Gruden saying, “what exactly is it that you do here, man?”

Because Joseph hasn’t made the impact plays, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a place in a defense, however. He played the inside-the-box role well for the Raiders, which would help supplant Minnesota’s expected loss of Jayron Kearse, who had the NFL’s ninth-best run-stop percentage among safeties in 2019 at 6.3 percent.

With the Vikings not having much to play with in free agency, Joseph could be a name to remember. It’s unlikely he’d become an impact player in Minnesota, but he could at least be another weapon to help the defense rebound from a tough 2019.