Vikings hold exclusive rights to linebacker Eric Wilson after offer sheet deadline

The deadline has passed for linebacker Eric Wilson to sign offer sheets in free agency, so the Vikings have him exclusively.

He hasn’t signed his one-year tender yet, but Eric Wilson is now exclusively with the Vikings.

According to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press, Wilson’s second-round tender is for $3.259 million.

Restricted free agents can sign with any team, but their original team can offer tenders, which are qualifying offers. Let’s say a player accepts an offer from a different team. The original team then has five days to match the offer and keep the player if he is a restricted free agent.

Those five days are called the Right of First Refusal. If the offer is not matched by the original team, the player signs somewhere else and the original team receives draft-pick compensation.

Now that the deadline has passed for restricted free agents to sign elsewhere, the Vikings have exclusive rights to Wilson.

If Wilson chooses not to sign, he cannot play for any team besides the Vikings. He finished 2019 with 62 totals tackles and three sacks.