The reserve defensive end is a free agent this year and he might not be returning to the Minnesota Vikings if they need to spend their money elsewhere.
Not much was expected from Stephen Weatherly after he was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the seventh round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
There isn’t much of a difference between late-round picks and undrafted free agents in terms of their chances to make a pro roster and this was the case for Weatherly. He didn’t initially end up making the Vikings’ active roster in 2016 and he spent a few months on the team’s practice squad.
Since then, however, Weatherly has developed into a solid situational pass rusher for Minnesota. During the last two seasons with the Vikings, he appeared in 32 games and racked up 67 tackles, 30 pressures, 17 quarterback hits, and six sacks.
This year, he is a free agent and his future in Minnesota is, once again, in doubt. Weatherly has expressed his desire to re-sign with the Vikings in the past, but it’s something that is going to depend on how much money the team is able to free up during the next few weeks.
Currently, Minnesota only has around $1 million in cap space and that isn’t going to be even close to enough for what they need to improve their roster this offseason.
So will the Vikings figure out a way to bring back Weatherly for 2020? Well, despite the team’s lack of funds at the moment, the Star Tribune’s Andrew Krammer believes Minnesota will re-sign the young pass rusher to a multi-year deal this offseason.
Krammer cites the Vikings habit of keeping guys around who they’ve drafted and developed and Weatherly fits this mold.
With Everson Griffen’s future in Minnesota still in doubt, bringing Weatherly back would at least be a good insurance policy for the team this year. This way the Vikings would still have some experience on their defensive line even if Griffen decides to sign elsewhere.
It shouldn’t cost Minnesota too much to re-sign Weatherly. But even a small chunk of change is going to be hard to come by for the Vikings this offseason, so the defensive end’s return is still is far from guaranteed.