The Vikings and cornerback Xavier Rhodes have agreed to terms on a five-year, $70MM extension, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). Rhodes was already slated to earn a little over $8MM this season under his fifth-year option, so in total, he is now under contract for six years (through 2022) and $78MM. As Schefter reports, the deal includes a whopping $41MM in guaranteed money, and also comes with a $12MM signing bonus, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
This is not surprising news, as reports from multiple sources this morning indicated that the two sides expected to finalize a deal today, and we heard yesterday that a lucrative extension was imminent. Schefter adds (via Twitter) that Rhodes will receive $42MM over the first three years of the contract, and he now ranks as the league’s third-highest-paid corner in terms of average annual value (behind only Trumaine Johnson, who is playing out the 2017 season under the franchise tag, and Josh Norman).
Rhodes, whom the Vikings selected in the first round of the 2013 draft, turned in the best season of his career in 2016, which earned him his first Pro Bowl nod. Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics were fairly kind to his overall effort, as Rhodes graded out as the 29th-best corner in the league out of 111 qualified players, but PFF really loved his performance against the run, where he graded as the top CB in football. Whatever issues he had in coverage he helped to make up for with his five interceptions, one of which he returned 100 yards for a score.
Since he became a full-time starter in 2014, Rhodes has also been pretty durable. He started all 16 regular-season contests in 2014 and 2015, and after missing the first two weeks of 2016 with a knee injury, he started and finished the remaining 14 games.
As Rapoport tweets, Minnesota will pursue a long-term deal with linebacker Anthony Barr next offseason.