With Keenan McCardell becoming their new receivers coach, the Minnesota Vikings could add some former Jacksonville Jaguars pass-catchers this year.
For the last few seasons, the Minnesota Vikings have had one of the best wide receiver duos in the entire NFL.
Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen made up the duo from 2016 to 2019, and then last season, Justin Jefferson replaced Diggs as Thielen’s partner in crime.
After Jefferson and Thielen, however, the Vikings‘ wide receiver depth chart could use an upgrade or two before next season. Due to a recent addition to their coaching staff, Minnesota could have their eye on a few receivers from a specific team this year.
Minnesota Vikings will likely have interest in former Jacksonville Jaguars receivers
With the guys who are under contract through 2021, the Vikings’ current No. 3 receiver heading into next season is Bisi Johnson. Even though he showed some promise as a rookie in 2019, Johnson didn’t do much last season for anyone to believe he can do a good job as the team’s third receiver in 2021.
So finding a new No. 3 wide receiver is something that we should expect Minnesota to do during the next few months. The Vikings can complete this task by either signing someone in free agency or adding a young pass-catcher in this year’s NFL Draft.
If Minnesota turns to the free-agent market to find a new third receiver, there are few who might interest them that spent last season as members of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
But why the Jaguars? Well, the Vikings just hired Keenan McCardell to be their new wide receivers coach, and he spent the last four years having the same role with Jacksonville.
This offseason, Keelan Cole, Chris Conley, and Dede Westbrook are the receivers from the Jaguars’ 2020 roster scheduled to become free agents in March. Any of these three could potentially step in as Minnesota’s No. 3 pass-catcher next season.
Both Cole and Conley finished the 2020 campaign with at least 40 catches, while Westbrook was only able to appear in two games due to injury. Westbrook was able to haul in a total of 66 passes in both 2018 and 2019 though, so he’s still got the resume to battle for the Vikings’ third receiver job.
Between the three, Minnesota will likely show more interest in Cole and Westbrook since they have better return skills than Conley. The Vikings would love it if their new No. 3 receiver could also come in and be their new return specialist for next season.
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So if reports and rumors begin to float around about Minnesota having interest in signing Cole or Westbrook this year, there’s no reason to be surprised.