CBS names John Randle as Vikings’ best all-time free agent signing
The Vikings have made some notable signings in free agency through the years. There’s been Brett Favre.
Steve Hutchinson worked out pretty well. And of course, you can’t forget Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter after a rough start to his career in Philadelphia.
However, Bryan DeArdo over at CBS Sports says the team’s best free-agent signing was defensive end John Randle, who piled up 114 sacks with the Vikings throughout his career. That’s hard to argue with.
Here’s what DeArdo wrote about Randle:
Deemed too short by the Buccaneers (who cut him shortly after singing him as an undrafted rookie), the 6-foot-1 Randle signed with the Vikings before the start of the 1990 season. A part-time starter in 1991, Randle broke into the starting lineup in 1992, when he recorded the first of eight consecutive double-digit sack seasons. The NFL’s sack leader in 1997, Randle earned six straight All-Pro selections from 1993-98. A member of the NFL’s All-1990s Team, Randle is tied for 10th all-time in career sacks. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.
This just goes to show that you never know what a player will turn into and it’s not always the big-name free-agent signings that find success.
There is some irony here considering the Vikings aren’t in much of a position at all this offseason to sign big names considering they are slotted in at just over $9.3 million in cap space right now.
