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Since the Minnesota Vikings season ended in Santa Clara last month, thoughts turned to the 2020 season and what the team could do to improve and re-tool their roster. The Vikings are currently $12 million or so over the projected salary cap, and with several key veterans having prohibitive cap numbers for next year, change is inevitable.
That change has started, per Vikings ESPN beat reporter Courtney Cronin:
The Vikings' defense is undergoing a transformation. Everson Griffen opted to void the remainder of his contract (2020-22), per source, which creates significant cap space, but there’s more work to be done. A look at other moves to possibly come: https://t.co/XvQGYyEBB1
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) February 20, 2020
Everson Griffen was the first subject in our now world famous* ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go’ series, and we all knew that this was going to happen. By voiding his contract, Griffen frees right around $13 million, with under $1 million in dead money, putting the Vikings in the plus column of cash available to the tune of about $1-2 million. I mean, it’s barely enough to get a steak dinner at Manny’s, but it’s a start, and there will be more changes on the way.
*It’s not even regionally notable.
The question now is whether Griffen will be in Vikings purple in 2020. In her article, Cronin says that ‘there’s a belief that Minnesota will work out a way to keep him around at a reduced price’, and that’s encouraging. That said, Minnesota is still tight against the cap, and frankly, Griffen could probably make more money elsewhere.
So it all depends on what the Vikings can offer, and whether or not that will be enough to keep him in Minnesota. I’m generally not a fan of players taking a ‘hometown discount’, because you’re asking someone to take less money just to make you happy, and I doubt it’s something we would do with our careers.
However, the Vikings have a history with Griffen. Both the team and the player have been loyal to each other over the years, and that hometown discount could come in to play. I’m not saying it will, or that it even should, but if it did happen, I wouldn’t be upset. Griffen has been the leader of this defense for several years, is a personal favorite of mine and many other fans, and I’d love to see him retire in purple.
We’ll see what happens.