Report: Vikings made free agent offer to RB David Montgomery

With the news cycle slowing down just a little bit as we get closer to the 2023 NFL Draft, there’s a bit of an interesting nugget from one of the Chicago Bears’ long-time beat writers about a move the Minnesota Vikings attempted to make in free agency. . .a move that would have raised some eyebrows.

Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Vikings made a free agent offer to running back David Montgomery, who had spent his career with the Bears prior to signing a free agent deal with the Detroit Lions.

As I understand it, Montgomery had a number of suitors in free agency, including the Bears. Three-fourths of the NFC North was interested in signing him. The Bears, the Detroit Lions (where he landed) and Minnesota Vikings were all in the mix. Montgomery scored an $18 million, three-year contract from the Lions, and what’s notable is the deal includes $8.75 million fully guaranteed and another $2.25 million is fully guaranteed if he’s on the roster on the third day of the 2024 league year. The Bears’ offer to Montgomery, according to a source, did not include any guaranteed money beyond Year 1 of the deal.

When Montgomery signed with the Lions, the Vikings had not yet re-signed Alexander Mattison. That move came shortly after when Mattison inked a two-year, $8 million contract to stay in Minnesota.

Having said that, however, Dalvin Cook (and his potential $14 million overall cap hit) are still on the Vikings’ roster as things stand right now, and having gone outside of the organization to bring Montgomery in without resolving his future first would have been a curious move. The interest still seems to be a bit strange, at least from my perspective.

I’m not completely sure how much more we should read into this as it pertains to Cook’s future in Minnesota. While there’s still a solid possibility that the Vikings will try to move on from him, we likely won’t see anything along those lines until draft weekend if it’s going to happen. But the Vikings, who appear to be solid at the running back position with or without Cook, were still very recently looking outside of the organization to bolster themselves at that spot.