2:39pm: The Vikings have officially cut Guion, as well as wide receiver Greg Childs, the team announced (via Twitter). Childs never appeared in a regular season game for the club.
1:30pm: The Vikings are expected to create cap savings by releasing defensive tackle Letroy Guion, a source tells Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Caplan reported yesterday that the team may ask Guion to take a pay cut to reduce his cap number, but it appears the longtime Viking will be cut instead.
Guion, 26, has a 2014 base salary worth $3.95MM and a total cap number of $4.3MM. By releasing Guion and getting out of the final year of his contract, the Vikings would create $4MM in cap savings.
While Guion has started 28 games for Minnesota over the last two seasons, he was only a part-timer for the club, appearing in about a third of the Vikings’ defensive snaps in 2013. In addition to not playing all that often, Guion didn’t perform particularly well when he did play, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). PFF’s grades have the former fifth round pick ranked 60th out of 69 qualified defensive tackles last season.
If and when the Vikings cut Guion, it will increase the size of the defensive tackle hole the team needs to fill this offseason. Veterans Kevin Williams and Fred Evans are both eligible for unrestricted free agency, leaving Sharrif Floyd as the only player still under contract who saw significant time at the DT position in 2013.