The Minnesota Vikings ended the first unofficial day of the 2021 free agency period with two brand-new additions to their roster.
For the Minnesota Vikings, Monday began with the news of Anthony Barr agreeing to a restructured contract that creates some extra cap space for the team and makes the linebacker a free agent in 2022.
A little later in the day, the Vikings and offensive tackle Rashod Hill were able to agree to a new one-year contract. That seemed like it was going to be the biggest news from Monday for the purple and gold until about 11 p.m. ET when it announced that free-agent defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson had agreed to sign with the Vikings.
Tomlinson and Minnesota have reportedly agreed to a two-year contract worth $22 million, with $16 million of it being fully guaranteed, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.
Before deciding to sign with the Vikings this year, Tomlinson spent the first four seasons of his NFL career as a member of the New York Giants. The young defensive tackle appeared in all 16 games in each of his four years with the Giants.
Even though he lined up as a nose tackle in New York for the last two seasons, most assume the 318-pound Tomlinson will take over as Minnesota’s new starting three-technique since Michael Pierce is already penciled in as the team’s nose tackle for next season.
Vikings reportedly sign former Chargers linebacker
Shortly after the Dalvin Tomlinson signing was revealed, another late-night addition to the Vikings was announced.
According to multiple reports on Monday, Minnesota and free-agent linebacker Nick Vigil have agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $2.3 million. Vigil spent 2020 as a member of the Los Angeles Chargers and he finished the season with 50 tackles, two sacks, and one forced fumble.
Before he suited up for the Chargers, his first four years in the NFL were spent with the Cincinnati Bengals. Vigil had the opportunity to start 37 games for the Bengals, and in 2019, he ended up with 111 total tackles.
During his first two years with Cincinnati, the veteran linebacker’s defensive coordinator was Paul Guenther, who joined the Vikings coaching staff this offseason as a senior defensive assistant. Guenther ran a similar defense to what Mike Zimmer runs in Minnesota, so Vigil should be pretty familiar with the basic defensive schemes the Vikings currently utilize.
Eric Wilson re-signing with Minnesota this year already didn’t seem very likely heading into the offseason. But with the addition of Vigil and Anthony Barr restructuring his contract on Monday, Wilson seems to be as good as gone.
What to expect on Day 2 of unofficial free agency
Will the Vikings add any more free agents on Tuesday during the second day of the legal tampering period of free agency?
It’s unclear how much cap space Minnesota will have to work with, but it seems safe to assume that the Dalvin Tomlinson signing ate up a good chunk of their spending money. If the Vikings are looking to make more moves on Tuesday, they’ll probably have to figure out some creative ways to generate more cap space.
Vikings turning to Thielen for cap relief
According to ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio on Monday, Minnesota is reportedly in talks with wide receiver Adam Thielen about a possible contract restructure that would convert a bunch of his 2021 salary into a signing bonus.
A move like this could potentially create an additional $8 million in cap space for the Vikings to use on free agents. If Minnesota and Thielen can come to an agreement, hopefully it happens sooner than later to prevent some free-agent targets from signing with other teams.
Possible Day 2 targets
Reports were circulating on Monday about the Vikings having interest in several of the top players in this year’s free agency pool, including Joe Thuney, Carl Lawson, and Trey Hendrickson.
Unfortunately for Minnesota, all three of these players have already agreed to contracts with other teams. But there are still a few reported targets the Vikings could land on Tuesday, including cornerback Shaquill Griffin and safety Will Parks.
Minnesota is also reportedly trying to re-sign safety Anthony Harris according to KSTP’s Darren Wolfson on Monday. Most assumed Harris would sign elsewhere this year, but it sounds like the Vikings would like him to stick around.
3 reasons why the Vikings might trade Danielle Hunter in 2021
Minnesota Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter is reportedly unhappy with his contract and could potentially consider asking for a trade.
Monday was the definition of a free-agent frenzy around the NFL and there’s no reason to think that Tuesday will be any less eventful.