We are just over a month from the start of the new year of the league in the National Football League, and this will be marked by the start of the free agency. While the free agency for the Minnesota Vikings for the past two years has been a failure, there is no league rule to stop them from actually participating in the hiring frenzy.
Behind the big E $ PN paywall, Jeremy Fowler ranked the top 50 free agents available and found homes for them with NFL teams. He has only one of these players going to Minnesota, as he opened the defensive field for Cincinnati Bengals Carl Lawson to join Mike Zimmer’s defense.
Vikings must face a passing race that struggled while Danielle Hunter lost the entire past season. It is unusual to see Minnesota ranked 28th in team bags. Lawson fits Mike Zimmer’s style as a 263-pound heavyweight player who can win with physicality and strength. In addition, he is from the Bengal defensive tree that Zimmer knows well.
Lawson was a fourth round pick of the Auburn Bengals in the 2017 NFL Draft. He led all NFL rookies that season with 8.5, but lost half of his second season with a torn ACL. In the past two seasons, he has collected 10.5 bags for the Bengals.
In his debut season, Lawson played for Paul Guenther, who was then the Bengals’ defensive coordinator and was recently hired by the Vikings to be a senior defense assistant. Fowler’s article was written before Guenther came to the Twin Cities, but now there is a real connection between the team and the player to be noticed.
As we know, the Vikings’ passing race was absolutely terrible last season, with Danielle Hunter out with an injury and Everson Griffen coming out of Minnesota in freedom of action. Lawson is the type of second-rate player that Vikings can do some real development with. While Andre Patterson is in Minnesota to train defensive line players, I firmly believe that any potential defensive line player will do it with the Vikings.
I don’t know what kind of contract Lawson will require at the free agency, but Vikings should look for all possible ways to try to increase their passing run and help their young side players.
What do you think of Carl Lawson for Minnesota, guys?