Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Michael Pierce recently talked about his time as a member of the Minnesota Vikings during the last two seasons.
During the 2020 offseason, one of the most notable moves the Minnesota Vikings made in free agency was when they convinced former Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Michael Pierce to sign with them.
The Vikings gave Pierce a three-year deal worth $27 million. It was certainly a lucrative deal for a player that had never even made the Pro Bowl once during his four seasons with the Ravens. But Minnesota clearly felt he was worth it.
Unfortunately for Pierce, his tenure with the Vikings was never really able to get on stable ground. The COVID-19 pandemic forced him to opt out of the entire 2020 campaign and then he only appeared in eight games for Minnesota in 2021 due to various injuries. Ultimately, everything resulted in the Vikings moving on from Pierce earlier this year.
Baltimore Ravens DT Michael Pierce talks about his tenure with the Minnesota Vikings
After Minnesota moved on from the veteran defensive tackle back in March, it didn’t long for him to find a new home. Well, technically, it was an old home since Pierce ended up going back to Baltimore and signing a three-year contract.
Recently, the former Vikings defender appeared on “The Ron Johnson Show” and he was asked to describe his tenure with the purple and gold.
"“I did an exit interview right after the season [and] I’ll just say it’s incomplete, or it was incomplete, for me. I felt like I definitely had a lot more to give.I started off hot [in 2021] and I was playing really well. I think I played well in each and every of the six or seven games I did play in. But, unfortunately, the injury bug bit me like never before.”"
Before signing with Minnesota in 2020, Pierce had missed a grand total of four games in four seasons in the NFL. So the Vikings were probably just as surprised as the veteran defensive tackle to not have him on the field as much as they would have liked during the 2021 campaign.
Minnesota definitely would have benefited from Pierce being available for more than eight games last season. Even in just his eight appearances last year, he still finished 2021 with the second-highest defensive grade from PFF on the Vikings’ roster.
But Pierce is now back in Baltimore and he’ll get a chance this year to prove that he still has plenty to offer to a team in the NFL. At the very least, he’s hoping that his second stint with the Ravens will go better than his two seasons with Minnesota.