Veteran pass rusher Anthony Barr is officially back with the Minnesota Vikings. As a result of inking a new deal with the NFC North franchise, Barr will not only remain in Minnesota but also keep the core of the team's defense intact going forward.
Happy to have Barr back for the foreseeable future, Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer recently commented on the impact that the seasoned sack specialist can have on opposing offenses.
“I know a lot of laymen don’t understand this, but Anthony is a guy that every team that we play game plans for,” Zimmer said, via the team's official website. “There’s not one team – there might have been one team last year that didn’t, and we got 10 sacks. They all game plan for him.”
Of course, Barr infamously spurned the New York Jets before ultimately signing a new contract with the Vikings. While Barr and the Jets were in agreement on a free agent contract, the Vikings were able to lure him back to Minnesota in the end.
“A lot of that is him sacrificing himself for being able to have other guys free on rushes and blitzes and things like that. That’s why he’s such an unselfish guy,” Zimmer continued. “We understand that no team that we play is ever going to say, ‘We’re not going to worry about Anthony Barr.’ That’s part of it, and sometimes we do it anyway. That’s just part of it. We’re always going to try and scheme the best way to win on that particular Sunday.”
The Vikings failed to reach the postseason in 2018-19 but remain one of the most well-rounded teams in the NFC.
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