We are just over a month from the start of the new league year in the National Football League, and that will be marked by the start of free agency. While free agency for the Minnesota Vikings has been a bit of a dud in the past few years, there’s no competition rule stopping them from actually participating in the drawing frenzy.
Behind the great paywall of E $ PN, Jeremy Fowler has ranked the top 50 free agents available and found homes for them with teams across the NFL. He has only one of those players going to Minnesota, as he tapped Cincinnati Bengals defensive end, Carl Lawson, to join Mike Zimmer’s defense.
The Vikings must tackle a pass rush that struggled when Danielle Hunter missed the entire season. It’s unusual to see Minnesota ranked 28th in team bags. Lawson fits Mike Zimmer’s style as a heavy-handed 263-pounder who can win with physicality and strength. Plus, he’s 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 bagged all NFL rookies that season with 8.5, but missed half of his second season with a torn ACL. In the past two seasons, he has collected 10.5 sacks for the Bengals.
In his rookie season, Lawson played for Paul Guenther, who was then the Bengals’ defensive coordinator and was recently signed by the Vikings as a senior defensive 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 that needs to be noticed.
As we know, the Vikings’ pass rush was absolutely miserable last season with Danielle Hunter injured and Everson Griffen took off from Minnesota in a free instance. Lawson is the kind of player with a second contract that really allows the Vikings to develop. As long as Andre Patterson is in Minnesota to coach the defensive linemen, I firmly believe that any defensive lineman has that potential will realize it with the Vikings.
I don’t know what kind of contract Lawson is going to demand in free service, but the Vikings should look to every possible way to try and amp up their pass rush and provide some assistance to their young secondary players.
What do you think of Carl Lawson in Minnesota, folks?