Vikings don’t sound interested in re-signing Everson Griffen

Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman spoke to the Twin Cities media on Tuesday and avoided commenting on a potential Everson Griffen return.

Back in 2014, the Minnesota Vikings took a big chance on Everson Griffen when they signed him to a five-year, $42.5 million contract.

Prior to the 2014 season, Griffen had only appeared in the starting lineup once during his first four years with the Vikings. But Minnesota obviously felt the defensive end had the potential to be a starter and their risk ended up paying off.

After the Vikings inserted him into their starting defense, Griffen was able to evolve into one of the best pass rushers in the entire NFL. From 2014 to 2017, he accumulated a total of 43.5 sacks, 101 quarterback hits, and three trips to the Pro Bowl.

Griffen is 32-years-old now and he’s still a free agent after opting out of his contract with Minnesota back in February. He also said his goodbye to the Vikings with an Instagram post in March and a return to the Twin Cities in 2020 seemed to no longer be an option after that.

But after a month has passed by since the start of free agency and Griffen is still without a team, he recently didn’t rule out the possibility of re-signing with Minnesota before next season.

So there seems to at least be some interest from the defensive end in returning to the Vikings. Can the same be said for the team?

Based on some comments from Minnesota general manager Rick Spielman during a video conference on Tuesday, it doesn’t appear that the team is too interested in bringing back Griffen for the 2020 season.

Spielman was asked if there was any chance of the 32-year-old pass rusher re-signing with the Vikings and instead of giving a straightforward answer, the general manager decided to just wish Griffen and the team’s other recent departures the best in their future endeavors while also commenting that the team is going through, “a bit of an evolution on the roster right now.”

If Spielman truly wants Griffen to return for 2020, then he likely would have said so on Tuesday. But him not giving a definitive yes or no answer combined with his comments on Minnesota’s roster going through an, “evolution,” seems to indicate that there is no interest from the team in bringing back their longtime defensive end.

There’s still probably a small chance that Griffen could somehow end up back on the Vikings’ roster before next season. But it would likely be a result of another Minnesota defensive end getting injured and the team needing more pass-rushing depth either before or during the regular season.

Judging from Spielman’s comments on Tuesday though, Griffen is not someone the Vikings are currently attempting to bring back any time soon.