The Minnesota Vikings are restructuring defensive Everson Griffen's contract to free up some cap space to help the team in free agency ahead of the 2019 season.
Everson Griffen has restructured his contract to stay with the Vikings, a league source confirms. From what I've heard this week, the deal should be pretty team friendly, and should clear a fair amount of cap space for the Vikings.
— Ben Goessling (@BenGoessling) March 14, 2019
The deal reportedly sets Griffen up too make $8 million this season as opposed to his scheduled $10.5 million prior to contract negotiations.
Griffen has been one of the league's most feared pass rushers since 2014 when he officially became a full-time starter. The Vikings have reaped the benefits of having a defensive roster full of elite players from the secondary to the defensive line, but Griffen is arguably their best defensive player. He has been named to three Pro Bowls since 2015, and it's clear the team believes there is plenty of elite years left for him in the future.
The Vikings have watched Griffen wreck games for opposing offenses for several years now and have watched him rack up double-digit sack seasons on a regular basis. The team can likely attack free agency a bit more head on with a little extra cap space now that they have a bit more flexibility heading into the 2019 season. It'll be interesting to see what the team does with the cap space, but adding some further help on defense or on the offensive line ought to be their priority.
The pieces all appear to be in tact for the Vikings heading into the new season, so it'll be interesting to see what the team does to prepare for a bounce back season in 2019 after they disappointingly missed the postseason a year ago.
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