For the Minnesota Vikings, the second unofficial day of the 2021 free agency period was not as exciting as the first.
On Monday, the Minnesota Vikings waited until late in the evening to make their first two significant free-agent signings of the offseason when they added defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson and linebacker Nick Vigil.
After a slow start, the first unofficial day of the 2021 free agency period turned out to be pretty eventful for the Vikings. Heading into Tuesday, most wondered who might end up being Minnesota’s next addition in free agency.
Unfortunately, for the Vikings fans hoping that their team would make another splash signing on the second unofficial day of free agency, no new players were added to Minnesota’s roster on Tuesday.
Instead, the Vikings said goodbye to a few members of their 2020 roster. Following the addition of Tomlinson on Monday, Minnesota made the unsurprising decision to release defensive tackle Shamar Stephen.
The departure of Stephen created more than $3 million in cap space for the Vikings to use on other parts of their roster. He was a player some thought could have been a cap casualty this year, and it turns out, he was just a new-signing casualty.
Odenigbo and Boone unlikely to re-sign with Minnesota
Following the conclusion of last season, the Vikings had three players on their roster that were set to become restricted free agents during the 2021 offseason. The three consisted of wide receiver Chad Beebe, defensive lineman Ifeadi Odenigbo, and running back Mike Boone.
For those unfamiliar, since these three players are classified as restricted free agents, Minnesota has the option of placing a tender on each of these guys. Meaning if another team chooses to sign one of them, then they have to send the Vikings draft compensation in order to acquire the player.
Minnesota also has the option to match any offers made to restricted free agents. With Beebe, Odenigbo, and Boone, the Vikings have not placed a tender on any of them.
By not doing this, all three will become unrestricted free agents when the new league year begins at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Minnesota reportedly wants to bring back Beebe for next season according to the Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson. But Odenigbo and Boone appear to be on their way out.
Boone is reportedly interested in signing elsewhere this offseason according to Tomasson and Odenigbo signaled his departure with a Twitter post that read, “Wait… I forgot my Sword at U.S. Bank! Well Danielle, DJ you guys can have it thank you Minnesota!”
Hunter makes some notable changes to his Instagram account
Not known for drawing much attention to himself during his NFL career, Danielle Hunter caused quite the stir earlier this month when he liked a few posts on Twitter that had to do with him getting traded to another team.
Then came Monday when The Athletic’s Chad Graff reported that Hunter is currently “unhappy with his situation” in Minnesota and asking for a trade is something he might consider.
Well, Tuesday saw another part of this ongoing saga take place when Hunter made some interesting changes to his Instagram account.
For the last few weeks, the veteran defensive end didn’t have any pictures of him in a Vikings uniform on his Instagram account. But on Tuesday, some photos of him sporting a purple and gold Minnesota uniform magically appeared.
Is this a sign that Hunter and the Vikings have talked things over and the talented pass rusher will be remaining with the team for the 2021 season?
As ludicrous as something like Hunter changing his Instagram layout might be to some, this is the time we live in, and players do things like this to send a subtle message to the public. So at the very least, something likely happened recently that caused Hunter to let Minnesota fans know he’s still proud to suit up for their team.
Stay tuned for our next breakdown of Hunter’s social media activity. Will he like a photo of cheese and make us think he wants to be traded to the Green Bay Packers? Or maybe he will post a picture of himself eating gummy bears, which will clearly mean that he wants the Vikings to send him to the Chicago Bears.
Vikings Draft 2021: Seven-round pre-free agency mock draft
With free agency just around the corner, which 2021 prospects seem like a good fit for the Minnesota Vikings at this point in the offseason?
Anything is possible these days.