Everson Griffen announced on Instagram that he was leaving the Vikings. Also at defensive end, Stephen Weatherly reportedly agreed to a two-year contract with the Panthers.
But Minnesota has reportedly added defensive end depth in free agency to replace at least some of the production leaving.
The Vikings announced that they are signing defensive end Anthony Zettel.
Sure, Zettel might not 100% replace the production of Griffen and Weatherly, but he’s a start, and the team still has the draft in April, where it has 12 picks in total.
#Vikings announce agreements with receiver Tajae Sharpe and defensive end Anthony Zettel.
Zettel, 27, is on his fifth NFL team. Most recently with the 49ers, had one tackle in 11 snaps vs. Vikings in playoffs. Former Lions starter in 2017.
— Andrew Krammer (@Andrew_Krammer) March 25, 2020
As the Star Tribune’s Andrew Krammer points out, Zettel is a bit of a journeyman at this point. He played in just five games in the 2019-20 regular season: four with the Bengals and one with the 49ers. He had six tackles throughout those games.
Zettel can be a limited usage defensive end, ideally. For me, this isn’t the answer to Griffen leaving, and the Vikings should make more moves for defensive end, either in the draft, a trade or free agency, in order to not have the defense drop off.