Assessing Stephen Weatherly’s value ahead of 2020 free agency

Can the Vikings and Weatherly make a deal?

With so many pressing priorities, the Vikings might be willing to part ways with Stephen Weatherly and focus their funds elsewhere.

Minnesota is not in a position where they can be held ransom by any current roster member. They have paid the price for rewarding players in the past and they will be wary of making the same mistake again.

Weatherly’s ceiling is still relatively high and there is nothing to suggest he is going to suffer a dip in the immediate future. He has low mileage for a player at the position and he is only getting better with every year that passes.

If Everson Griffen re-signs with the Vikings, coupled with the presence of Danielle Hunter and the emerging Ifeadi Odenigbo, then Weatherly would find himself coming back to the same sort of role as last season.

Ultimately it will be up to Weatherly to decide whether or not he is going to accept this or push for a starting job elsewhere. Productive defensive ends who can play the run and the pass are always highly sought after, so he should not be short on offers this year.

It would be a shame if Weatherly moved on to somewhere new, but it would not be the end of the world for the Vikings. They have so many secondary issues to resolve this offseason and this must be the priority to ensure the long and short-term future of the franchise remains intact.