5 free agents the Vikings could still sign in 2023

Yannick Ngakoue - EDGE

2022 Team: Indianapolis Colts

The Vikings are actually pretty deep at edge rusher in 2023, assuming everything goes as planned. There does happen to be a series of events that could unfold that could deplete this unit quite quickly though.

The first event would be a Danielle Hunter holdout. He skipped the voluntary camp to express his frustration with his contract. If the Vikings don't get anything done prior to the start of training camp, the holdout could become extended and get quite ugly.

The second event that could unfold would be Marcus Davenport getting injured. Davenport has never strung together a full season in his five years in the league and could definitely miss a handful of games.

To prepare for this dreadful scenario, the Vikings could look to bring in an edge rusher. One player who is out there who used to play for the Purple is Yannick Ngakoue.

Ngakoue was acquired by the Vikings back in 2020, but after the team started out 1-5, he was traded to the Ravens. He was last with the Colts but has yet to find a new squad.

Ngakoue is 28 years old but is coming off a 9.5 sack season. That's what he is, a pure pass rusher. He won't bring much as a run defender, but that is fine.

The Vikings can toss him out there on passing downs and let him terrorize quarterbacks the way he has his entire career. He would be a nice fallback plan in the event of a Hunter holdout or a Davenport injury.