No Captain, My Captain: Munnerlyn Done In Minnesota?

There will be several positions on the Minnesota Vikings’ roster that are in flux this offseason. One of them could be the slot cornerback position.

Matt Vensel of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune is speculating that Captain Munnerlyn’s tenure with the purple and gold may be coming to an end. Munnerlyn is an unrestricted free agent this offseason, having played out the three-year deal he signed during the 2014 offseason, and the Vikings have some contingency plans in place.

Munnerlyn, the slot specialist, will likely get the most attention in free agency after a solid three-year run here. Their second-round selection of young cornerback Mackensie Alexander last spring and their current interest in free agent K’Waun Williams suggests his time is up here.

Alexander looked a little rough around the edges for the Vikings in his rookie season. He got limited time on the field, but teams did pick on him quite a bit while he was out there. Still, the team thought enough of him to use a second-round pick to select him in 2016, so they clearly think he’s the future of the team at the position.

Williams is an interesting case. He signed with the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2014 after his collegiate career at the University of Pittsburgh. Despite his undrafted status, he managed to play his way into getting named to the Pro Football Focus All-Rookie Team for the 2014 season.

Williams spent two seasons with the Browns, but was released by the team during the 2016 preseason. He missed the first preseason contest with an ankle injury, and was then suspended by the Browns for the next two preseason contests for a violation of team rules. He signed with the Chicago Bears in late August, but was released by Chicago after he failed a physical. He wound up sitting out the 2016 season.

Between the presence of Mackensie Alexander and the potential courting of K’Wuan Williams, not to mention the question of whether or not Terence Newman (who could also play the slot if needed) is coming back for another season, it doesn’t appear that the Vikings’ interest in bringing back Captain Munnerlyn is terribly strong. We’ll see for sure when the free agency period kicks off in a few weeks.