Top 5 depth chart positions where the Vikings spend their money
By Dustin Baker
No. 2 – Linebackers
$29,464,997 (14.93% of 2020 cap, 9th in NFL)
Only eight other teams in the league spend more money on linebackers than the Minnesota Vikings. The team has decided recently to pay contracts north of $10 million dollars per year to both Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr. An argument can be devised that this makes sense as these two men and positions are schematically the heart and soul of the defense.
Probable starter Eric Wilson makes over three million. But after that, none of the bottom six linebackers enter the seven-figure realm.
It is really no surprise that defense-first coach head coach Mike Zimmer values his defense to the utmost, and this is evident in contracts awarded to the homegrown likes of Kendricks and Barr. Kendricks achieved First-Team All-Pro honors in 2019; he was only the second Vikings linebacker ever to win such honors. Matt Blair nabbed the honor in 1980. As for Anthony Barr, he’s a four-time Pro Bowler.