Zulgad’s four-and-out: Could Vikings pursue son of former standout cornerback to replace Harrison Smith?
We took a look at four potential free agent fits for the Minnesota Vikings in this space last week, but we might have missed one very interesting possibility.
That and items on Kevin O’Connell’s contract, the Vikings’ Ring of Honor and which opponents the Vikings might face in London next season are all part of this week’s action-packed column.
Antoine Winfield Jr. could help replace longtime Vikings standout
The Vikings surprised nearly everyone when they signed free agent cornerback Antoine Winfield to a six-year, $34.8 million contract in March 2004. Winfield, who spent his first five NFL seasons with the Buffalo Bills, had been expected to sign with the New York Jets, but Vikings coach Mike Tice convinced Winfield to at least visit Minnesota.
He did more than that.
Winfield spent nine seasons with the Vikings and picked off 21 passes in 119 games. He wasn’t big — 5-foot-9, 180 pounds — but Winfield was one of the best tacklers in the league and he regularly put on a clinic for how the slot corner should play.
Twenty years later, could the Vikings be in for a repeat performance?
Antoine Winfield Jr., showed the same abilities as his father in the defensive backfield while playing college football at the University of Minnesota, but despite having success in the Vikings’ back yard the team passed on him with its second first-round pick in the 2020 draft.
Instead, the Vikings took cornerback Jeff Gladney with the 31st pick in the opening round. Gladney was released by the Vikings in August 2021 after an off-the-field incident and was tragically killed in a car crash two months later.
Winfield, who is a safety, was selected by Tampa Bay with the 45th pick in the second round and has had four excellent seasons for the Buccaneers. Winfield spent his childhood watching his father play at the Metrodome — Winfield Sr. retired after the 2012 season — and attended Eden Prairie (Minn.) High School as a freshman.
There already has been speculation the Vikings could plug Winfield Jr. into Harrison Smith’s safety spot, assuming the veteran doesn’t return in 2024. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores likes to use three safeties, and Winfield’s smarts would make him a great fit for Flores’ scheme.
The younger Winfield would not come cheap, the Spotrac website projected Winfield to earn a four-year, $74 million contract worth $18.5 million a year, and there also is the possibility the Buccaneers will outbid other teams, or use the franchise tag on Winfield.
Tampa Bay has the 10th most salary-cap space in the NFL, according to Over The Cap, with $37.2 million. The Vikings, who are 15th at $24.7 million, have several needs and must make some key decisions on their own players, such as Kirk Cousins and Danielle Hunter, but making a bid to get a Winfield back in purple would be applauded by many.
Kevin O'Connell's contract provides limited security
It sounds silly to say that the patience of Vikings’ ownership could be wearing thin with coach Kevin O’Connell after he led the team to a 13-5 record, including a first-round playoff loss to the Giants, in his first season before a disappointing 7-10 finish in 2023.
But when you consider that eight teams changed coaches either during this season or after it, and that O’Connell reportedly only received a four-year contract when he was hired in 2022, it’s hard not to think that there is significant pressure to win now. That will increase even more if veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins remains in Minnesota instead of leaving as a free agent.
The Vikings, of course, could tamp that down by giving O’Connell an extension this offseason. The same could be true with general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who reportedly got the same term as O’Connell.
It is interesting that at least two teams that made changes gave six-year contracts to their new coaches.
Dave Canales, who was hired by Carolina after being the offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay, and Mike Macdonald, who was hired by Seattle after being the defensive coordinator in Baltimore, reportedly both were given six years of security.
Three of the other hires, the Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh, the Falcons’ Raheem Morris and the Titans’ Brian Callahan reportedly got five-year contracts.
After taking a year off, Vikings plan to have a Ring of Honor inductee in 2024
Vikings fans likely noticed that no one was inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor this season. This is nothing new. The franchise also skipped having inductions in 2000, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2020.
This year the Vikings decided to honor their past by recognizing three of their Super Bowl teams (VIII, IX and XI) and paying tribute to the late Bud Grant as part of their opening weekend game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The anticipation is the Vikings will have at least one inductee to the Ring of Honor next season. Those who have gone into the Ring since U.S. Bank Stadium opened, include wide receivers Randy Moss and Ahmad Rashad (2017), former coach Dennis Green (2018), tight end Steve Jordan (2019), defensive tackle Kevin Williams (2021) and defensive end Jared Allen (2022).
One candidate for 2024 should be Antoine Winfield Sr.
Who will NFL have Vikings face in "home" game in London?
The NFL’s schedule rotation for 2024 should result in nine games for the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium, but that won’t happen because one of those will be played in London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
What will be interesting to see is which opponent the Vikings will be scheduled to face overseas. It seems unlikely it would be an NFC North opponent so scratch the Bears, Lions and Packers off the list. The Bears, in fact, will host their own game in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Vikings’ other home opponents — the complete schedule is likely to be released in May — includes the Cardinals, 49ers, Texans, Colts, Falcons and Jets. You have to figure the Vikings will work hard to make sure that that the meeting with Aaron Rodgers doesn’t end up in London, so then the possibilities are Arizona, San Francisco, Houston, Indianapolis and Atlanta.
I’m guessing Vikings fan would be OK with losing the Cardinals, Colts or Falcons.
The Real Forno Show
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