Minnesota Vikings News & Rumors

Jayden Daniels Vikings’, Raiders’ Preferred Trade-Up Target?

March 31st, 2024 at 12:42pm CST by Adam La Rose

Competition for a top-three selection will intensify if one of the Bears’, Commanders’ or Patriots’ selections becomes available. Of those, New England’s appears to be the likeliest to be moved (although it very much remains to be seen if the team is willing to move out of the opportunity to add a potential franchise quarterback at that spot).

Nevertheless, the fourth (Cardinals) and fifth (Chargers) picks are known to be on the market. As a result, QB-needy teams will have options to maneuver closer to the top of the board. Both the Vikings and Raiders have been named as trade-up candidates, and ESPN’s Dan Graziano reports Minnesota and Las Vegas could find themselves in competition with each other to pursue a passer.

Specifically, Graziano adds Jayden Daniels is a likely target for the Vikings and Raiders. The reigning Heisman winner has a visit scheduled with both teams, the latter of which has a well-documented connection with him. Vegas head coach Antonio Pierce worked with Daniels during their time together at Arizona State, and links have subsequently been made to a trade-up effort on the Raiders’ part with the LSU alum as the target. Aidan O’Connell is still positioned to compete for the staring spot in 2024, but Pierce has essentially confirmed a signal-caller will be drafted next month.

The Vikings, meanwhile, have the draft capital to aggressively move up the board. Currently set to select 11th overall, Minnesota also has No. 23 after pulling off a pick swap with the Texans. The fourth overall pick is a reported potential landing spot, and it would come as little surprise if the Vikings jumped further ahead of teams like the Raiders (who own pick No. 13) but also the Giants (No. 6) to land their preferred developmental passer.

Notably, the most recent reporting on the matter indicated J.J. McCarthy could be the target of a trade-up on Minnesota’s part. In any case, the addition of a Day 1 option to develop behind Sam Darnold – who signed a one-year deal to serve as a short-term Kirk Cousins replacement – would represented the expected outcome in this situation.

McCarthy has seen his stock rise in draft circles recently, but Daniels has long been considered part of the top tier of QB prospects (alongside presumed No. 1 pick Caleb Williams and UNC’s Drake Maye, whose landing spot will be a crucial determining factor in Daniels’ fate). With each passer’s Pro Day now in the books, attention will shift to personal visits and private workouts as the draft draws nearer and teams such as the Vikings and Raiders continue their evaluations.

Bears GM Ryan Poles Addresses Justin Fields Trade; Latest On QB’s Preferred Destinations

March 30th, 2024 at 1:40pm CST by Adam La Rose

In moving on from Justin Fields earlier this month, Bears general manager Ryan Poles accomplished his stated goal of doing right by the former first-round quarterback. The latter recently spoke about the tepid trade market which was in place and the efforts made by the team to send Fields to a situation with a potential path to a starter’s role.

The Steelers moved quickly in acquiring Fields for a conditional sixth-round pick not long after adding Russell Wilson. The decision to trade away Kenny Pickett after Wilson’s arrival set the stage for the Fields swap and with it the complete overhaul of Pittsburgh’s QB room. A recent report indicated the Steelers’ offer was not the best one made to Chicago, something Poles confirmed when speaking at the league meetings.

“There were other teams,” Poles said, via Josh Schrock of NBC Sports Chicago. “The Steelers were just an opportunity where it was almost like more of a… they have a starter with Russ, but there was more of an open competition it felt like from my perspective where there were other opportunities where there were some quarterbacks that were either veteran guys or young guys that had already been paid, so it would have been a tougher situation for him to get on the field.”

Fields is already known to have preferred going to Pittsburgh, but further clarity on his other potential landing spots has emerged. ESPN’s Brooke Pryor reports the 25-year-old was also considering the Vikings, Raiders and Falcons prior to the start of free agency. Kirk Cousins‘ decision to depart Minnesota and join Atlanta left the Falcons as a backup-only destination; the same could have held true in the case of the Vikings given their addition of Sam Darnold as a short-term Cousins replacement.

The Raiders (previously connected to a Fields trade) already have Aidan O’Connell in place, and the team added veteran Gardner Minshew as a bridge starter or high-end backup. Vegas could be in the market to draft a passer next month, and as a result a Fields deal would have left the Ohio State product in a murky situation. That also would have been the case, of course, had Poles elected to keep Fields while still selecting a quarterback with the first overall pick in the draft.

“I know there was a lot of talk about having Justin there and drafting a quarterback as well,” Poles added. “We had a lot of deep conversations and I got some really good guys on my staff to really dig into how that would play out in terms of the locker room, how would that play out with a young guy that needs a lot of reps, how would that play out with just the command and leadership that you need in that position and we felt like it was best to probably move on and allow a young quarterback to come in and work into that role.”

With Fields no longer in the picture, Caleb Williams remains on track to hear his name called first on draft night. A QB room featuring both passers would have created an awkward situation, but the former is now in place to compete for a No. 1 in a new environment while Chicago is positioned to start fresh under center.

Latest On Vikings’ Draft Plans

March 28th, 2024 at 10:45pm CST by Adam La Rose

Armed with two first-round picks, the Vikings are a team worth watching in the build-up to next month’s draft. Minnesota is a strong candidate for a move up the board to land a quarterback, although the presence of Sam Darnold means the position could be a priority after Day 1.

The Vikings made a deal with the Texans to add pick No. 23 earlier this month, giving the team that selection along with their own 11th pick. Minnesota thus has the capital to move into the top five, and in the wake of the trade a report quickly emerged pointing to a deal with Arizona (which owns the fourth selection) being in play. Both the Cardinals and Chargers (No. 5) are open to trading down.

With that in mind, ESPN’s Matt Miller notes the expectation around the league remains that Minnesota will trade into the top five. Specifically, many point to J.J. McCarthy being the target of that move, although the matter of whether he will be on the board after No. 3 is in the air. The Michigan product has seen his stock consistently rise over the past few weeks, and he may have worked his way into consideration for the second overall pick.

Neither head coach Kevin O’Connell nor general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah attended the Wolverines’ Pro Day (although QBs coach Josh McCown was part of the large contingent of NFL evaluators present). As Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis Star Tribune notes, however, Minnesota’s preference is to host quarterback prospects on private workouts, something which holds true of other teams as well. The team’s evaluation of McCarthy, Daniels and whichever other passers are brought in will determine much of their plans ahead of the draft.

Darnold is in place on a one-year, $10MM deal. The former No. 3 pick is thus in place to serve as the Vikings’ short-term Kirk Cousins replacement, but a long-term investment via the draft would be a reasonable approach. As could be expected this time of year, though, Adofo-Mensah has not confirmed the chances of a trade-up being executed or a signal-caller even being a Round 1 target.

“We just thought that [the Texans trade] gave us the best flexibility for whatever can happen,” Adofo-Mensah recently said, via Miller’s colleague Kevin Seifert. “Ultimately team building isn’t this one-size-fits-all exercise. There are ways you can build a championship team with certain types of quarterbacks, certain types of players around them and we’re trying to set ourselves up to be one of those and ultimately be in that last game which we’re trying to be in.”

Aside from Caleb Williams remaining on track to join the Bears in April, plenty is uncertain at the top of the board for the time being. Minnesota represents an X-factor at the QB spot, especially if the team makes a substantial move up the order. The Vikings’ evaluations of the top prospects over the coming days and weeks will be a key storyline to follow.

Falcons Were Interested In Top Defensive FAs; More On Kirk Cousins’ Decision

March 24th, 2024 at 10:34pm CST by Rory Parks

On the day before the 2024 league year opened, the Falcons agreed to a four-year, $180MM deal with former Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, a deal that will pay the 35-year-old passer (36 in August) $50MM in guaranteed money. Even if Atlanta had not signed Cousins, the club was still prepared to make a major free agent splash.

Albert Breer of SI.com, in a piece that is well-worth a read for fans of the Falcons and Vikings in particular, explores in considerable detail how Cousins came to sign with Atlanta, beginning with the February 2022 meeting between the quarterback, his agent, and Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell, whom the Vikes had just hired. While most of Breer’s writing focuses on the discussions, both football and contractual, between Cousins’ camp and Vikings brass and then between Cousins’ camp and Falcons brass, he does note that Atlanta had interest in top defensive free agents Danielle Hunter — another long-time member of the Vikings — and Christian Wilkins.

Per Breer, if the Falcons had not been successful in their pursuit of Cousins or another high-priced FA signal-caller like Baker Mayfield, they would have spent their money on defense, with Hunter and Wilkins named as potential targets. Mayfield had agreed to a new contract with the Bucs while Cousins was still in limbo, so Atlanta GM Terry Fontenot spoke with the agents for Hunter and Wilkins in case he would have to address his QB position via a trade for a player like Justin Fields or via the draft. He was told that both players would fetch at least $25MM per year, which turned out to be pretty accurate. Fontenot also explored the possibility of trading up into the top-three of the draft to land a blue-chip collegiate quarterback, though the teams holding those selections (the Bears, Commanders, and Patriots) were not interested in dealing, at least not that early in the process.

Ultimately, Cousins chose to sign with the Falcons, and Atlanta subsequently bolstered his pass-catching contingent by authorizing a notable contract for wide receiver Darnell Mooney and sending displaced quarterback Desmond Ridder to the Cardinals in exchange for slot man Rondale Moore. Without a high-end QB contract on their books, it was the Vikings who pivoted to the defensive side of the ball, adding Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Blake Cashman in quick succession while bidding farewell to Hunter.

Shortly after Cousins decided to make the move to Atlanta, he said the team simply seemed more prepared than Minnesota to commit to him on a long-term basis. Indeed, Breer reports that while the Vikings did improve their offer to Cousins as negotiations went on by putting more guaranteed money on the table, it was the structure of those guarantees that swung the pendulum in the Falcons’ favor. The Vikings’ proposals always gave them the ability to part ways with Cousins in 2025 without many financial ramifications, and Cousins ultimately felt he was being viewed as a bridge to a passer that the team would select in next month’s draft.

The Falcons’ deal, on the other hand, guarantees all of Cousins’ 2025 base salary of $27.5MM, effectively tethering player and team to each other for the next two seasons. Atlanta can realistically get out of the deal in 2026, at which point Cousins’ cap number skyrockets to $57.5MM. Still, he will at least have an NFL home beyond the upcoming campaign, which was clearly a top priority for him.

Having devoted so many resources to their offense, Fontenot & Co. will have to turn their attention to the draft to address a defense that finished 24th in DVOA and 21st in sacks in 2023. To that end, the team has scheduled a predraft visit with Alabama edge defender Dallas Turner, as Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reports. The Vikings and Bears will also visit with Turner, who could be the first defensive player off the board.

NFC Restructures: 49ers, Smith, Eskridge

March 24th, 2024 at 7:55pm CST by Ely Allen

The 49ers recently restructured the contracts of two offensive mainstays that cleared up a heap of cap space. According to ESPN’s Field Yates and Adam Schefter, both tight end George Kittle and fullback Kyle Juszczyk agreed to restructured contracts to help lessen their impact on the salary cap.

Charean Williams of NBC Sports provided us with some details on Kittle’s newly redone deal. The veteran tight end was set to have a base salary of $13.4MM with a cap hit of $21.96MM in 2024. Instead, the team converted $12.19MM of his base salary for 2024 into a signing bonus while adding one voidable year to the existing two already at the tail end of his contract. The move cleared up $9.75MM of space in the team’s salary cap.

While Schefter’s initial report claimed that the restructure for Juszczyk would free up approximately $1.75MM of cap space, a later report from Tom Pelissero of NFL Network laid out some details that would clear almost $4MM of cap space. The restructured deal will reportedly reduce his base salary in both 2024 and 2025, forming what is essentially now a two-year, $9.1MM contract. In exchange for the reduced pay, San Francisco gave Juszczyk $4MM of new guarantees.

Here are some details on other recent restructures from around the conference:

We reported a restructured deal for Vikings safety Harrison Smith about a week and a half ago, and thanks to Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune, we have some details on the new contract. The restructure addressed the final two years of Smith’s contract, essentially giving him a two-year, $10.25MM deal with three void years at the end of the contract. Smith received $7MM of guaranteed money in the form of a signing bonus and will receive a per game active bonus of $30K for a potential season-total of $510K. The new contract reduces Smith’s cap number in 2024 by $11.9MM and reduces his 2025 cap impact by $15.5MM.
The Seahawks cleared up some cap space by restructuring the contract of wide receiver D’Wayne Eskridge, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. It’s just a slight tweak for a player who was only slotted to make $1.47MM in the final year of his rookie deal. The restructure will open up about $500K of cap space for Seattle.

Coaching Updates: Cowboys, Bears, Vikings, Steelers, Browns

March 23rd, 2024 at 3:22pm CST by Ely Allen

The Cowboys announced a number of staff updates recently. We’ve tracked many of the initial changes to occur with the departure of Dan Quinn and a few assistants across the division to Washington, but with the staff filled out, head coach Mike McCarthy opted to hand out of few promotions.

Firstly, Al Harris, who serves as the team’s defensive backs coach has had the title of assistant head coach added to his title, per Josina Anderson of CBS Sports. Dallas had blocked Harris from interviewing for a lateral move to follow Quinn and opted to sweeten the deal after keeping him from another opportunity. ESPN’s Todd Archer tells us that, also on defense, assistant defensive backs coach Cannon Matthews has been granted the title of safeties coach for 2024, making him a full position coach.

On offense, wide receivers coach Robert Prince has added the role of pass game coordinator to his position. Likewise, Chase Haslett, previously the assistant tight ends coach, will serve as the pass game specialist next season. Lastly, game management and offensive assistant Ryan Feder has replaced “offensive assistant” in his job title with “assistant quarterbacks coach” for the 2024 season.

Here are a few other staff updates from around the NFL:

The Bears made a couple of adjustments to their front office recently. Vice president Corey Ruff was promoted by the organization to senior vice president of strategy and analytics and chief of staff. Chicago also hired Tanya Dreesen as the team’s senior vice president of strategy and global affairs and chief of staff, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2.
We’ve tracked a number of Vikings staff changes throughout the offseason, but we have a new promotion and an update to an earlier report. First, 2023’s assistant quarterbacks coach and chief of special projects Grant Udinski earned a promotion, replacing “chief of special projects” in his job title with “assistant offensive coordinator,” according to Kevin Seifer of ESPN. Udinksi will assist new quarterbacks coach Josh McCown. We had originally reported that former quarterbacks coach Chris O’Hara had been moved to pass-game specialist with McCown’s addition, but we now see that Minnesota has him listed as senior offensive assistant.
The Steelers will add veteran defensive assistant Anthony Midget to their 2024 staff, according to Brooke Pryor of ESPN. Midget has experience as the Texans former secondary coach and most recently served as the defensive backs coach in Tennessee. After being fired by the Titans following the 2022 NFL season, Midget sat out in 2023. He rejoins the ranks of NFL coaching as the assistant secondary coach in Pittsburgh.
Finally, the Browns will add an intriguing young name in Nick Charlton, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Charlton made history at Maine, where he became the youngest head coach in Division I history at 31 years old. Following a three-year stint with the Black Bears, Charlton accepted the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coaching job at UConn. He’ll leave the Huskies to serve as the new offensive assistant and run-game specialist in Cleveland.

Titans’ Trade For CB L’Jarius Sneed Falls Through; League Interest Cooling

March 22nd, 2024 at 8:13pm CST by Ely Allen

Two weeks ago, we went into some detail on the list of teams interested in trading for Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed. The Titans were one of those teams, and it appears the team was all but set to trade for Kansas City’s top cornerback before one detail sank the deal. According to Nate Taylor of The Athletic, the inability of Tennessee to reach an agreement on a multi-year extension for Sneed kept the trade from going through.

The Chiefs avoided allowing Sneed to test unrestricted free agency by applying the franchise tag on him earlier this month. While every now and then, a franchise tag application can be the end of the story, keeping a key player under contract for one additional, high-paying year, often times, the tag is meant to buy time as the player continues to seek a long-term contract. With Sneed, that meant two options: seeking a long-term contract with Kansas City or getting traded to another team that may be more open to giving him the deal he desires.

The Chiefs are very familiar with the tag-and-trade maneuver. They have utilized it themselves to send Dee Ford to the 49ers while also taking advantage of it to bring Frank Clark from Seattle. Right now, it appears that Kansas City is unwilling to meet Sneed where he’s wanting to be in terms of a contract extension. As a result, they have essentially informed every team in the NFL that Sneed is available for a trade.

With the Chiefs hearing offers on Sneed, a number of teams reached out to express interest. We noted the Vikings, Colts, Titans, Patriots, Lions, Falcons, Jaguars, and Dolphins as teams looking to acquire the 27-year-old. While all these teams showed initial interest, it was never clear how many had the intentions of trading for Sneed then extending him.

Sneed has made it clear that he is seeking a three- or four-year contract with an average annual value of at least $20MM, a salary that would make him the league’s third-highest-paid cornerback. While Tennessee was ready to part ways with whatever Kansas City wanted in exchange for Sneed, the Titans were apparently not ready to hand Sneed a new contract. Without a new contract, Sneed is set to play with a one-year salary of $19.8MM on the franchise tag, with every penny counting towards his team’s cap space. This provides incentive for the Chiefs or whatever team trades for him to use a new deal to lessen his salary cap impact.

The Titans apparently pivoted from the Sneed-trade to sign cornerback Chidobe Awuzie and use the extra money to sign wide receiver Calvin Ridley. The Lions traded instead for cornerback Carlton Davis. Additionally, Taylor informs that the Patriots, Vikings, and Falcons have ceased engagements with Kansas City concerning Sneed. So who else is left to vie for his services?

The Athletic’s Dianna Russini names Indianapolis as the most likely destination for Sneed at this time. The Chiefs will be wanting at least a second-round pick for Sneed, but if they can’t reach that value, they’re going to want two picks, with one of them being a third-rounder. She identifies the Colts‘ 46th, 82nd, and 117th overall picks as the ones that could entice Kansas City. On the Pat McAfee Show, ESPN’s Adam Schefter disputed Russini’s opinion, claiming that “the Colts and the Chiefs haven’t had any conversations” about a trade taking place. Stephen Holder of ESPN delved deeper claiming that, after contemplating the idea of a Sneed-trade, Indianapolis instead opted to re-sign its own players, like cornerback Kenny Moore.

As for the Chiefs, the relative inactivity around Sneed could allow them to lower Sneed’s asking price on a new deal. Sneed has expressed interest in remaining with the Chiefs multiple times. He doesn’t seem too eager to give a hometown discount, as he realizes that this is likely his best opportunity to maximize on his value, but he likes the idea of a Super Bowl three-peat and enjoyed his role as the team’s shadow corner.

Kansas City is in no rush to overpay, though. They are currently ranked 28th in cap space, according to OverTheCap.com, and they are confident in their ability to identify cornerback talent through the draft. Without Sneed, the Chiefs will return Trent McDuffie, Joshua Williams, and Jaylen Watson, three players they believe to be starting-caliber.

As the draft inches closer and closer, it’s starting to seem like one of two things will need to happen: either Kansas City is going to need to lower their asking price for Sneed in order to move him, or Sneed will need to lower his asking price for a new extension. It doesn’t sound like the Chiefs are interested in keeping Sneed on the roster in 2024, but someone will need to bend in order for him to move. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, for one, expects the team to move on from Sneed before the draft.

Free Agency Notes: Giants, Vikings, Jets, Hawks, Huff, Commanders, Ekeler, Raiders, Dolphins, Jacobs, Rams

March 21st, 2024 at 9:28pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Bryce Huff market did not reach the level of Jonathan Greenard‘s, and Danielle Hunter also scored a better guarantee compared to the Jets‘ contract-year breakout pass rusher. But the Eagles needed to give Huff a three-year, $51.1MM deal with $34MM guaranteed. That came about because, per Huff, the Commanders, Giants, Seahawks and Vikings joined the Jets in pursuing him. The Jets had expressed interest in keeping the former UDFA, who led the team in sacks last season, but their 2023 Will McDonald draft choice appeared to point Huff elsewhere.

Minnesota came in early with its Greenard signing (four years, $76MM, $38MM fully guaranteed), while Washington turned to one of Dan Quinn‘s ex-Cowboys charges — Dorance Armstrong — soon after. The Giants made a bigger splash hours later by trading for Brian Burns, in a deal that involved a second-rounder going to the Panthers and fifth-rounders being swapped, while the Seahawks devoted their funding to fortifying their interior D-line (via the Leonard Williams deal). Huff, 26, led the NFL in pressure rate last season but was not used as a full-time D-end. It should be expected the Eagles, who have Haason Reddick in trade rumors, will up Huff’s usage.

Here is the latest free agency fallout:

As Lloyd Cushenberry and Andre James scored nice contracts, the center market has not seen Connor Williams come off the board. It should be a while on that front. Rehabbing an ACL tear, Williams is not expected to sign anywhere anytime soon, agent Drew Rosenahus said during a WSVP interview (via the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson). Williams going down in Week 14 certainly has impacted his market. Pro Football Focus graded the two-year Dolphins blocker as a top-five center in each of his two Miami seasons. Ahead of his age-27 season, the ex-Cowboys draftee will probably need to show teams he is healthy or on track to full strength before a deal commences.
The Raiders lost their starting running back in free agency, seeing Josh Jacobs join the Packers. Zamir White is tentatively in place as Las Vegas’ starter, but the now-Tom Telesco-run club did show interest in Austin Ekeler, CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson tweets. Telesco was with the Chargers when they signed Ekeler as a UDFA and when they extended him, but the GM did not greenlight a second extension last year. That led to trade rumors and a small incentive package. Ekeler signed a two-year, $8.43MM Commanders deal, indicating (via the Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala) the NFC East team showed the most interest. Despite leading the NFL in TDs in 2021 and 2022, Ekeler received only $4.2MM fully guaranteed — ninth among FA backs this year.
As for Jacobs, his guarantee fell well short of Saquon Barkley‘s and shy of the Bears’ commitment to D’Andre Swift. The Packers signed Jacobs to a four-year, $48MM deal, but Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio notes only the $12.5MM signing bonus is guaranteed (plus a $1.2MM 2024 salary). Beyond 2024, this is a pay-as-you-go deal. Jacobs is due a $5.93MM roster bonus on Day 5 of the 2025 league year, creating a pivotal date for Green Bay’s backfield. The Packers are known for shying away from guarantees beyond Year 1, in most instances, but it is interesting to see the gap between guarantees Barkley could secure ($26MM) and Jacobs’ locked-in money.
The gap between Xavier McKinney‘s Packers deal and the Rams‘ two-year Kamren Curl pact ended up wider than the aforementioned RBs. Curl agreed to a $9MM accord, per the Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala. Curl, 25, has two seasons to show he can command a more lucrative contract. But McKinney (four years, $68MM) showed how valuable an age-25 offseason can be for earning power, making the Curl contract look quite Rams-friendly.
Jonnu Smith‘s two-year Dolphins deal came in at $8.4MM, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets. Miami will guarantee the former Tennessee, New England and Atlanta tight end $3.96MM. No guarantees are present beyond 2024, SI.com’s Albert Breer tweets. Miami’s three-year Jordyn Brooks accord lands slightly lower than initially reported, with Wilson adding the ex-Seattle linebacker signed for $26.25MM. Brooks’ contract features $16MM guaranteed; just $9.5MM of that sum is guaranteed at signing.

Vikings Add DE Jihad Ward, LB Kamu Grugier-Hill

March 20th, 2024 at 7:35pm CST by Ely Allen

The Vikings have seen their roster transform drastically over the past couple of weeks. Their efforts to continue building on defense have not stopped yet. Today, Minnesota agreed to deals that bring in defensive end Jihad Ward and linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill, per Vikings senior editor Craig Peters.

Ward is an eight-year veteran who was drafted to the Raiders in the second round of the 2016 Draft out of Illinois. While he was never truly able to live up to that second-round draft status, Ward found himself in some solid contributing roles over the past eight seasons.

After starting all but three games as a rookie and failing to register his first NFL sack, Ward needed offseason surgery after a workout injury that would limit him to just one start in five game appearances during his sophomore campaign. He was traded to Dallas in exchange for Ryan Switzer the following offseason but would sign with the Colts practice squad after failing to make the Cowboys’ 53-man roster to start the year.

Since then, Ward has played on one-year contracts that have taken him from Indianapolis to Baltimore to Jacksonville to New York. He’s never quite hit his stride as a consistent starter, though his last two seasons with the Giants saw him start 20 of 34 game appearances. Ward is coming off the most productive time of his career. Over his two seasons with the Giants, he achieved career-highs in total tackles (43), sacks (5.0), tackles for loss (7), quarterback hits (13), passes defensed (4), and forced fumbles (2). In Minnesota, Ward will likely compete with recent signee Jerry Tillery for a starting position opposite Jonathan Bullard. He joins Tillery and Jonah Williams as the third defensive line addition in free agency.

Grugier-Hill is from the same draft class as Ward, getting selected four rounds later by the Patriots. After failing to make the initial 53-man roster as a rookie in New England, Grugier-Hill signed with Philadelphia, where he would spend the first four years of his career. Despite starting 16 of 26 game appearances over his last two years with the Eagles, Grugier-Hill didn’t break out until his 2021 season with the Texans. Over 20 starts for Houston in 2021 and 2022, Grugier-Hill totaled 148 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, three sacks, two forced fumbles, four passes defensed, and an interception that he returned for 82 yards.

After leaving Houston, Grugier-Hill took a minor role with the Cardinals before playing the 2023 season with the Panthers. In a rotation role last year, he started five games and finished sixth on the team in tackles with 56. With the Vikings, Grugier-Hill reunites with former Texans teammate Blake Cashman as the two will compete for the starting job next to Ivan Pace.

The transformation in Minnesota continues. With so many key contributors departing and needing to be replaced, the Vikings continue to evaluate and reload. Vikings fans will be learning a lot of new names and faces as they watch a very different-looking Vikings team in 2024.

Rams Pursued Andrew Van Ginkel; Ernest Jones On Extension Radar

March 20th, 2024 at 5:47pm CST by Sam Robinson

Aaron Donald‘s retirement creates major questions for a Rams team that has benefited from one of the NFL’s all-time greats for 10 years. Donald boosted the capabilities of other Rams pass rushers, with Kobie Turner and Byron Young the latest beneficiaries.

In addition to its unfillable hole in the Donald spot, the Rams could still use help in the pass-rushing department. The team was in on hybrid performer Andrew Van Ginkel early in free agency, ProFootballNetwork.com’s Adam Caplan notes, but the ex-Dolphins linebacker signed with the Vikings on a two-year, $20MM deal.

The Rams have not added an edge player in free agency, and they were not believed to be aiming to spend too much to fill the post opposite Young. The team had hoped Van Ginkel’s market would come down a bit, per The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue (subscription required), but it did not. Van Ginkel received $10MM guaranteed at signing from the Vikings, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling. Another $3MM shifts from an injury guarantee to a full guarantee on Day 3 of the 2025 league year, giving Minnesota some options with the ex-Miami defender.

Vic Fangio used Van Ginkel in more of a pass-rushing role down the stretch last season, a campaign that featured Jaelan Phillips sustain a torn Achilles during the Dolphins’ Black Friday game. Reuniting with Brian Flores in the Twin Cities, Van Ginkel has shown pass-rushing chops in the past; prior to his six-sack 2023, he accumulated 20 QB hits and nine tackles for loss in Flores’ 2021 Miami finale.

It is difficult to know what to expect from the Rams’ pass rush. Donald raised this operation’s floor to a degree it landed the likes of Leonard Floyd, Von Miller and Dante Fowler big paydays. Over the past two years, the team invested little — beyond the third-round Young pick — on the edge; the team did attempt to keep Miller and then saw Carolina turn down a two-first-rounder offer (17 months before taking a second and a fifth from the Giants) for Brian Burns. But the Rams, who spent to address guard last week, have work to do here moving forward.

Elsewhere on defense, the Rams have begun extension talks with linebacker Ernest Jones, per Rodrigue, who classifies these talks as preliminary. A two-year starter, Jones has become one of the Rams’ top defenders. Coming off a 145-tackle, 4.5-sack season, the former third-round pick is going into a contract year.

Los Angeles released Bobby Wagner last year and previously let standout Cory Littleton collect his second contract elsewhere. Pro Football Focus ranked Jones 13th among linebackers last season, when the South Carolina alum broke through with 14 tackles for loss. With Donald retiring, Matthew Stafford going into his age-36 season and Cooper Kupp turning 31 this year, the Rams may be more open to extensions with players at lower-priority positions. They have some time to hammer out a Jones deal, as Rodrigue adds the sides are not in a rush.

Based on how the Rams spent their money last week, a Steve Avila-to-center plan appeared in place. Indeed, Rodrigue confirms the 2023 second-round pick is slated to slide to center. The Rams re-signed Kevin Dotson on a $16MM-per-year deal and gave Jonah Jackson a $17MM-AAV pact. Considering Avila was the team’s highest draft choice since Jared Goff, it seemed highly unlikely L.A. would demote him ahead of his second season.

TCU deployed Avila at center during his 2021 junior season; he also saw time there as a sophomore. After going into recent training camps with position battles up front, the Rams appear to have their starting five — Alaric Jackson, Jonah Jackson, Avila, Dotson, Rob Havenstein — up front. Attached to a recently reworked deal, Joe Noteboom is set to provide swing depth.

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