After a long offseason of waiting, former Jacksonville receiver Dede Westbrook has finally found a new home. The fifth-year player is signing with the Minnesota Vikings, his agency announced on Twitter Sunday.
The terms of the deal aren’t yet known, but according to Josina Anderson, it’s a one-year deal.
A former Biletnikoff Award winner for the best receiver in college football, Westbrook was taken in the fourth round by the Jaguars back in 2017. A bit undersized for an NFL receiver, Westbrook dealt with injuries as a rookie but appeared in all 16 games during his second season, making nine starts. That was the most productive year of his career, as he finished with 63 catches for 707 yards and five touchdowns.
Westbrook’s production dipped after that, though, and he entered the 2020 season as the No. 4 receiver on the depth chart. He appeared in just two games, making one catch for four yards, before he was placed on the injured reserve in Week 7 after suffering a torn ACL.
With his rookie deal expiring, Jacksonville chose to let him walk, and he went unsigned during the initial free agency period back in March. The Vikings worked Westbrook out on Saturday, one of several teams to show interest in him. It seems Minnesota saw enough to bring in the fifth-year player who is still on the road to recovery from knee surgery.
He joins a talented receiver group that includes Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, but he’ll hope for some success with more consistency at quarterback than he had with the Jags.