Discussions are reportedly ongoing between the Minnesota Vikings and free-agent defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh as the 2022 regular season is about to begin.
During the last few months, there have been a few rumblings about the possibility of the Minnesota Vikings adding free-agent defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh to their roster.
Currently, Suh is still a free agent, and the Vikings’ roster appears to be set as they head into their 2022 regular-season opener against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
However, there still seems to be interest from both parties, at least according to a recent report. Could we see Suh in a purple and gold jersey sometime in the near future?
Minnesota Vikings reportedly have had “new talks” with free agent Ndamukong Suh
During a recent episode of SKOR North’s “Mackey & Judd”, KSTP’s Darren Wolfson revealed that Minnesota and Suh have recently had a conversation about the free-agent defender signing with them this season.
"“There have been new talks. To my sense, those talks have been initiated by Suh’s camp, not by the Vikings.Here’s where we stand. The Vikings would happily take Ndamukong Suh. [But] the Vikings are not budging off the veteran minimum. Now for a guy in his mid-30s, it’s not chump change. It’s okay money. But Ndamukong Suh is looking for far more than the veteran minimum. So the two sides are just staring each other down. The Vikings are not willing to budge [and] Suh is not willing to budge on [not accepting] a minimum offer.”"
The most interesting part about all of this is the fact that it is Suh’s camp that reportedly reached out to Minnesota to initiate these most recent discussions.
The Vikings are clearly standing their ground, and they’re not willing to overpay for a veteran defensive tackle who might have one or two more years left in the league. Minnesota also really can’t afford to give Suh more than the veteran minimum at this moment.
Currently, the Vikings have just under $2.4 million in cap space. Since Suh has been in the NFL for 12 seasons, a veteran minimum contract for him would be worth $1.12 million.
So Minnesota can afford to sign the free-agent defensive tackle if he accepts a minimum contract offer. But that’s a big if since Suh reportedly isn’t willing to play for the veteran minimum amount this year.
We’ll see how things play out, but if the Vikings lose a defensive lineman to a significant injury or their defensive line is struggling during the next few weeks, don’t be surprised if Minnesota figures out a way to get Suh on their roster.