The Minnesota Vikings had some unfortunate injury luck when they faced the Green Bay Packers this past Sunday along the offensive line and the worst of it was Brian O’Neill. He suffered a significant injury to his right calf and was already ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears.
That leaves a couple of options internally, including Oli Udoh and Vederian Lowe, but they leave a lot to be desired. I wrote about a few options that the Vikings could target, but there was one that makes all the sense in the world that I didn’t mention.
Andrew Whitworth.
In a similar vein to when we discussed Odell Beckham Jr. joining the Vikings before Thanksgiving, Whitworth played for head coach Kevin O’Connell when he was the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams in both 2020 and 2021 and was tremendous in both seasons.
Teams have already made calls to Whitworth but as he said in the preseason right after the Dallas Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith, they need to convince his family, not him.
Andrew Whitworth being asked if his phone’s been ringing lately, immediately mentions what happened with Tyron Smith and that it’s been a busy day of answering calls. Adds that ultimate answer comes from his wife and kids. pic.twitter.com/3hLCD0GclC
— Laurie Horesh (@LaurieHoresh) August 26, 2022
Sure, it’s a long shot that Whitworth would first off want to come back and second come to Minnesota. The team that drafted him, the Cincinnati Bengals, have a need at tackle since La’el Collins tore his ACL just a week ago. They have an even deeper connection than O’Connell does.
The financial element is something that you could get really creative with. They could give him a signing bonus and pro-rate it with void years as he wouldn’t end up playing a single regular season game. All he would get was the postseason share.
It’s not the most likely scenario to bring in Whitworth, but it is something that the front office needs to inquire on.