There's an easy adage in the NFL these days when talking about players who will get paid the most. If you are the quarterback, you protect the quarterback (mostly as in, an offensive tackle), or you can sack the quarterback, there's a premium on you.
While Dallas Turner didn't get on the field that much for the Minnesota Vikings as a rookie last season, there is a lot of hope he'll emerge in year two. Helping clear the way for Turner is the fact that another young edge rusher from Rick Spielman's final draft class as Minnesota's general manager is hitting the free-agent market this year.
NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, as an extension of colleague Tom Pelissero's recent list of free agents who could make more money than you think, shared on Wednesday that Vikings edge rusher Patrick Jones II is someone who could surprisingly cash in too this offseason.
"Another guy who could surprise with a big-money deal next week: LB Patrick Jones II. Seven sacks last year. Now heads to a market with pass rushers that are deeper into their career or with some other question marks. The 2021 third-rounder could cash in nicely."
Youth of Minnesota Vikings OLB Patrick Jones could get him paid handsomely in free agency
As Garafolo noted, some of the top free-agent edge rushers this year are "deeper in their career" (code word for old?) or have some other question marks. Jones, on the other hand, will turn 27 in September, with presumably some good years left in his career.
Similarly to Turner, Jones didn't play a ton of snaps last season behind Andrew Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard in the Minnesota edge rusher mix (459 defensive snaps over 15 regular-season games).
But he set career highs with seven sacks and nine tackles for loss. While PFF was not high on his work as a pass rusher, they did give him the 31st-best run defense grade among qualifying edge rushers.
If Jones's price gets too high for the Vikings to re-sign him, as Garafolo hinted it might, then the door will be pushed open for Turner to have a bigger role next season. It's very possible that the plan for Turner might be just the driver for how far Minnesota will go to re-sign Jones.