Tag: Everson Griffen

Minnesota Vikings expected to sign Everson Griffen

#Vikings expected to sign Everson Griffen:

After reportedly impressing the Minnesota Vikings with his workout last week, Everson Griffen is heading back to his former team.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Monday, Griffen is expected to be signed by the Vikings:

Griffen originally had a workout with the Vikings last Wednesday.

Needing some help at the defensive end position, the Vikings have tabbed Griffen as a player that could bolster the group. Previously the 33-year-old played in Minnesota for his first 10 NFL seasons before departing prior to the 2020 season.

During his first stint with the Vikings, Griffen had three seasons with double-digit sack totals. Even in 2019, his final year with Minnesota, he had eight sacks.

Griffen was a four-time Pro Bowler with the Vikings and has prior experience playing in head coach Mike Zimmer’s defensive scheme.

Last offseason, Griffen was signed by the Dallas Cowboys in August 2020. He was later traded by them to the Detroit Lions.

In 14 games between the two teams, Griffen had six sacks and seven tackles for loss.

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Why the Vikings’ game vs. the Colts could be important for some of the defensive ends

Everson Griffen’s tryout should tell you that the Vikings are looking beyond what they currently have at defensive end.

Despite it being August, Minnesota worked out a defensive end this week.

The Vikings brought in a familiar face, Everson Griffen, for a tryout. Griffen’s tryout went well, according to Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune.

At the time this article was published, Griffen had not signed with Minnesota. That said, it wouldn’t be shocking if he signed after the team’s preseason game against the Colts.

That’s why this game is crucial for some edge rushers on the team. Griffen’s tryout signals that the Vikings are looking beyond what they currently have on the roster. If Stephen Weatherly, D.J. Wonnum or Patrick Jones II want to start in 2021, one of them has to stand out in the game vs. Indianapolis.

To make matters more difficult, the Colts have a pretty good offensive line. PFF ranks them the second best in the league, heading into the 2021 NFL season.

The Vikings retooled their defense this offseason, but there has seemingly been a hole at the edge rusher spot opposite Danielle Hunter for quite some time. Minnesota not signing a big-name defensive end in free agency — and not drafting one until the third round — made it seem like the team was confident in what it had at that position.

Now, it might be time to think otherwise. The Vikings brought in a player this week who, earlier this offseason, criticized starting quarterback Kirk Cousins over Twitter.

Sure, that could maybe tell you something about Cousins, but it also tells you something about the team’s defensive end corps. Minnesota felt the need to look at improving the edge rusher spot this week. That’s a testament to what the Vikings have at that position group. Wonnum, Weatherly or Jones has to show enough promise on Saturday to stop the team from looking elsewhere.

Report: DE Everson Griffen’s workout with Vikings went well today

Some good news for Vikings fans who want Everson Griffen to return.

The Vikings’ 2021 offseason has been filled with plenty of storylines, one of which has been lingering for a while.

Everson Griffen, who played his first 10 NFL seasons with Minnesota, is currently a free agent. Additionally, the Vikings could use some help at defensive end.

To make matters even more intriguing, the Vikings brought in Griffen for a workout on Wednesday. Well, according to Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune, that workout went well.

As reported by the Star Tribune’s Mark Craig, Minnesota has not finished talking to Griffen yet. So I guess Vikings fans will have to wait for any potential reuniting of the two parties.

During his time with the Vikings, Griffen had three seasons with double-digit sack totals. Even in 2019, his final year with Minnesota, he had eight sacks. While Griffen’s days of double-digit sacks might be behind him, he could still be a solid member of the team’s defensive line rotation, especially with the options the Vikings have outside of Danielle Hunter.

Report: Former Vikings DE Everson Griffen to tryout with Minnesota Wednesday

Will the Vikings and Everson Griffen reunite this offseason?

In past seasons, the Vikings often relied on Everson Griffen and Danielle Hunter to make for a menacing edge rusher duo.

With Minnesota having a question mark opposite Hunter on the defensive line right now — and Griffen still being a free agent — could a reunion be imminent this offseason?

It’s not out of the question. According to KSTP’s Darren Wolfson and Chris Long, the Vikings are bringing in Griffen for a tryout.

Griffen’s days as a mainstay starter might be behind him, but he could at least compete for a starting position and be a pass-rushing option in the defensive line rotation.

In the offseason of 2020, Griffen voided his contract with the Vikings. He ended up signing with the Cowboys in free agency. Then, he was traded to the Lions, where he finished out the duration of his one-year deal.

Prior to that, he played the first 10 NFL seasons with the Vikings, becoming one of the team’s best draft picks in recent memory. He had three seasons with double-digit sack totals. Even in 2019, his final year with Minnesota, he finished with eight sacks.

So if Griffen has something left in the tank, the Vikings may as well take a flyer on him. Let’s see if Minnesota thinks the same after the tryout.

Pioneer Press columnist has definitive take on Everson Griffen possibly re-signing with Vikings

Do you want the Vikings to re-sign former Minnesota defensive end Everson Griffen?

Former Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen is a free agent once again. Griffen departed in free agency last offseason for the Cowboys.

However, with Minnesota needing an edge rusher and Griffen needing a 2021 NFL team, the Vikings re-signing the defensive end makes a lot of sense.

Not so fast, says Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press. Walters recently addressed the possibility of Griffen returning, and he gave a pretty straightforward answer.

Walters wrote: “Ex-Viking Everson Griffen, 33, continues to work out in Minneapolis hoping to rejoin the team, but that’s not going to happen.”

OK, so maybe a reunion isn’t the most likely of occurrences. Of course, there was Griffen’s Twitter thread where he was critical of Minnesota starting QB Kirk Cousins. That said, Griffen can add a bit from an on-field standpoint, considering where the Vikings stand with the defensive end spot opposite Hunter. Minnesota may just have to fill that void with a different free agent edge rusher, is all.

2021 free agency: 10 under-the-radar targets for the Bills

Under-the-radar free agents for the Buffalo Bills at the start of 2021 NFL free agency.

On Monday. the NFL’s tampering period for free agency begins. During this time, clubs can talk to pending free agents from other teams ahead of Wednesday, when free agents are officially allowed to sign contracts.

However, the Bills have recently been very active in regards to free agency already. Buffalo made a couple of roster cuts and restructured the contracts of a few other players. That led to linebacker Matt Milano and offensive linemen Daryl Williams and Jon Feliciano re-signing with the club.

Because of those important moves and a dip in the salary cap to $182.5 million this year, Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane won’t have the big dollars to shell out to free agents. But there’s still dough to go around.

With that, here are 10 under-the-radar free agents the Bills could sign when the free agent market opens this week:

Kenny Golladay ranked a top-10 free agent for 2021

Golladay is the No. 2 wide receiver on the list

Kenny Golladay will be one of the NFL’s most coveted free agents this offseason. The Lions wideout still commands a lot of respect despite coming off an injury-plagued season where he caught just 20 passes in five games.

Golladay checks in at No. 6 overall in Touchdown Wire’s ranking of the top 101 pending free agents for the coming offseason. He’s the second wideout on the list, trailing Chicago’s Allen Robinson.

Golladay’s market value is a difficult one to gauge. At 27, he’s older than most first-time free agents at his position, and he had problems getting on the field in 2020. He also finished dead last in average separation per route over the last two seasons, though it didn’t stop Golladay from leading the NFL in touchdown receptions with 11 in 2019.

There are two other Lions on the list. Defensive end Everson Griffen comes in at No. 54, followed by defensive end Romeo Okwara at 98. Okwara led the Lions in sacks with 10 in 2020.

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Lions EDGE and ex-Viking Everson Griffen slams QB Kirk Cousins, then walks it back

Griffen didn’t hold back on Cousins until he deleted and apologized for it

Everson Griffen brought some intensity and edge to the Detroit Lions as a pass rusher once he joined Detroit during the season. He’s keeping that same mentality going into the offseason.

Griffen, who will be a free agent, went off on his longtime old team, the Minnesota Vikings. In an unprovoked move, Griffen sounded off on Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins and also the decision to build the offense around Cousins made by those higher up in the Vikings organization.

Griffen later deleted the tweets but not before several people (h/t @DatGirlFriday) took screen captures of the mini-tirade. He then offered a public apology to Cousins, who has yet to respond to any of it.

Many Vikings fans have been trying to lure Griffen back to Minnesota, which sorely missed his aggressive attitude and ability to disrupt the passing game in 2020.

NFL DE Everson Griffen alludes to interest in the Vikings on social media

Vikings fans, gear up: NFL defensive end Everson Griffen has alluded to interest in Minnesota on social media.

NFL defensive end Everson Griffen was a staple of the Vikings defenses during the Mike Zimmer era — before he signed elsewhere in 2020.

Griffen had stints with the Cowboys and Lions this season. In the later stages of his career, Griffen still showed he could rush the passer, tallying six sacks with his two different teams. He’ll become a free agent in March.

If Minnesota fans are reading the tea leaves from Griffen’s social media presence, they might suspect that the NFL defensive end could be returning to his old team. Griffen has a plethora of posts on multiple different social media platforms that allude to interest in the Vikings.

Griffen retweeted this recently:

He has retweeted several other tweets that indicate he is interested in a reunion with the Vikings.

Griffen also posted a video on Instagram of him moving past TCO Performance Center. Just a note: he posted it as a story, so the video goes away after 24 hours.

If that’s not good enough for you, he tweeted this on Jan. 5: