Anthony Barr absent from Vikings OTAs

With the Minnesota Vikings well into their second session of Organized Team Activities for the offseason, one notable member of the defense is absent from all of the festivities in Eagan.

Linebacker Anthony Barr is not at the team’s facilities for the OTAs this week, though the reason for his absence isn’t entirely clear at the present time. According to Dane Mizutani of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Barr let head coach Mike Zimmer know that he was going to be absent from this week’s OTAs, but when asked if it had anything to do with his contract status, Zimmer gave no real clarification.

“I don’t worry about those things,” he said. “I just know the conversation we had and I’ll keep between (us).”

Barr is getting ready to play out his fifth-year option, with a guaranteed salary for 2018 of a little over $12 million. He’s one of many Vikings that’s in line for a potentially huge contract extension, and it will be interesting to see how the Vikings handle all of it.

Personally, I’m not sure where Barr falls on the Vikings’ hierarchy of who they’re going to extend next and when they’re going to do it. That list includes names such as defensive end Danielle Hunter, wide receiver Stefon Diggs, cornerback Trae Waynes (who, given that his fifth-year option season is 2019, might be further down the list), and potentially even defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, who is with the Vikings on a one-year deal.

We’ll probably take a deeper look into who the Vikings should be prioritizing as far as contracts go, but that’s a different post altogether. For now, the important news is that Anthony Barr is nowhere to be found this week in Eagan, and nobody really seems to be sure why.