The former Minnesota Vikings pass rusher has reportedly signed with the Dallas Cowboys.
Well, the ball finally dropped. Everson Griffen reportedly won’t be returning to the field this season as a member of the Minnesota Vikings.
Instead, Griffen will be heading to the NFC East to suit up for the Dallas Cowboys. The former Vikings pass rusher and the Cowboys have reportedly agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $6 million according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on Wednesday.
For Griffen, it will be the first time since he entered the NFL in 2010 that he won’t be playing for Minnesota. It will certainly be an odd sight to see when he’s trots onto the field for the first time with a star on his helmet.
So why did Griffen finally decide to ditch the purple and gold to sign with Dallas? What prevented him from re-signing with the Vikings and remaining with the franchise for the rest of his career?
There are a number of reasons to help explain why Griffen signed with the Cowboys on Wednesday, so let’s go over a few of the biggest ones.
Minnesota’s offer was too low
Heading into the 2020 season, Everson Griffen was originally scheduled to cost the Vikings $13.9 million in salary cap space. However, Minnesota had the option to cut Griffen this year and free up $13 million of that cap space.
Since the veteran defensive end fulfilled the playing time and production requirements in 2019 to void his contract this year, he also had the option to do this. Knowing that the Vikings were probably going to cut him if he decided to keep his current deal with the team, Griffen decided to void his contract instead and he became a free agent for the first time in his career.
It was initially assumed by most that he would just re-sign with Minnesota this offseason. But then Griffen revealed on his Instagram account that he was ending contract talks with the Vikings and he was looking to pursue opportunities with other teams.
Despite this post, the talented pass rusher reportedly never ruled out a return to Minnesota and neither did the team.
Most recently, it was revealed that the Vikings did actually make a contract offer to Griffen this offseason. However, the offer was reportedly a low one and this isn’t too hard to believe when he signed with the Cowboys for only $6 million.
In the end, Griffen had to take the best offer he had on the table and unfortunately for Minnesota fans, it wasn’t the one that would have kept him in purple.
Chance to continue being a starter
Since the Vikings decided to make him a full-time starter in 2014, Everson Griffen has been lining up on the right end of the defensive line.
It’s hard to imagine the Cowboys will be looking to shift Griffen to the left side, so the former Minnesota pass rusher will probably be competing with Tyrone Crawford to be Dallas’ starting right defensive end.
Just having the chance to be a starter this season isn’t something that Griffen likely had with the Vikings. Minnesota has made it pretty clear all year that they are looking to shift Ifeadi Odenigbo into a starting role and this would have meant less playing time for Griffen if he chose to return to the Twin Cities.
For someone who has been a part of the Vikings starting defense for the last six seasons, it’s not difficult to understand why this was probably a hard pill for Griffen to swallow.
The veteran pass rusher just wanted a chance to compete for a starting job this year and it never sounded like he was going to get that opportunity if he remained in Minnesota.
Familiarity with Edwards
When players who spend the majority of their career with one team end up having to look for a new place to call home, they usually turn to the teams who employ some familiar faces.
This is exactly the case with Everson Griffen and his decision to sign with the Cowboys. Griffen will be joining a Dallas team who now has former Vikings defensive coordinator George Edwards as a senior defensive assistant.
For Edwards, this will also be his first season apart from Minnesota since 2014. It’s hard to imagine that Griffen would have been comfortable signing with the Cowboys if not for the presence of his former defensive coordinator on the team’s coaching staff.
There are two other former Vikings players on the current Dallas roster in tight ends Blake Bell and Cole Hikutini, but they’re both on the offensive side of the ball.
Griffen will also be joining forces with some former NFC North adversaries in head coach Mike McCarthy and safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. Other than that though, the former Minnesota defensive end is going to be in very unfamiliar territory.
Will Griffen’s decision to sign with the Cowboys turn out well for him this season or will he be left wishing he was back in purple with all of his former teammates?