Vikings still being linked to free-agent defensive tackle

A new report on Tuesday has re-stated that the Minnesota Vikings have met with free-agent defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh this offseason.

Back in June, it was reported that the Minnesota Vikings were one of the teams that had met with free-agent defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh this offseason. The report, from USA Today’s Tyler Dragon, labeled the Vikings as “a team to keep an eye on” to sign Suh this year.

On Tuesday, Minnesota’s interest in the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle was re-emphasized by Brad Stainbrook of the Orange and Brown Report.

Why haven’t the Minnesota Vikings signed Ndamukong Suh yet?

The post from Stainbrook didn’t really provide any new information when it comes to the Vikings and Suh. But Minnesota being mentioned could mean that Stainbrook’s source might have indicated to him that the purple and gold are still in the running to sign the All-Pro defensive tackle.

The very least we can gather from Stainbrook’s tweet on Tuesday is that if Suh signs with the Vikings, a deal will likely be completed before the team begins their training camp at the end of the month.

So what is something that might have prevented Minnesota from signing the free-agent defensive tackle already? Considering how much Suh has earned during his NFL career, money seems like it could be the holdup.

Last year with the Bucs, the veteran defensive tackle was paid $9 million, and the last time he made less than that amount in a single season was when he was a rookie in 2010.

With the Vikings currently having around $11 million in cap space, paying Suh anything close to $9 million for 2022 isn’t going to leave them with much of an emergency fund for the upcoming season.

Suh’s play has declined a bit in the last few years and he knows that. But that doesn’t mean he’s willing to take a significant pay cut to continue playing in the NFL.

With the first players from Minnesota’s current roster set to check in for training camp on July 24th, we should know in the near future whether Suh will be suiting up in purple next season or not.