Mackensie Alexander reportedly became the second Vikings cornerback to leave for the worst team in the NFL last season.
Per media reports, Alexander has agreed to terms with the Bengals, shortly after cornerback Trae Waynes also reportedly agreed to a deal with Cincinnati.
I didn’t think Waynes was worth keeping due to the high price of his reported deal. The Bengals reportedly are to sign him for three years and $42 million, per Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network.That’s way too much money for a corner that’s only serviceable, especially when you’re the Vikings.
However, the reported deal with Alexander is a head-scratcher. Also according to Pelissero, the deal is one-year and worth $4 million. I’m sorry, what? The Vikings couldn’t do that, for a guy who is good enough to play nickel corner or out wide? That’s insane to me.
I’m not sure what the Vikings are doing with this move. How could you let Alexander walk for that little of money. The only plan I can think of is maybe the team needs to save money for cap space in order to make a huge splash in free agency, acquiring new talent to take the place of old.
Another possibility is that the Vikings weren’t thrilled with Alexander as a player, which is baffling. Pro Football Focus recently reported that Alexander was the only defensive back to play more than 500 snaps in 2019-20 and never miss a tackle.
He had one interception and five pass deflections in 2019-20. Those aren’t crazy numbers, sure, but Alexander played nickel corner and suffered an injury and still put together a year that was very similar in production to Waynes, who had one interception and eight pass deflections in a lot more playing time.
Regardless of who comes over to play for the Vikings next season, the team will still need competent, experienced players, and that’s exactly who Alexander was.
I’m not saying it’s a certainty that this will be a tough offseason. A lot can happen in free agency still and maybe there are players they really like in the draft. But Alexander reportedly leaving for a small price is hard to understand.