Minnesota has lost some veteran talent in free agency, and finally, the Vikings have been reportedly replacing some of it.
The team is reportedly signing defensive end Anthony Zettel and wide receiver Tajae Sharpe, two players who fill positional needs for Minnesota.
The Vikings reportedly traded wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who was the team’s leading receiver last season. And defensive end Everson Griffen announced on Instagram that he was not coming back to the team.
It makes sense for Minnesota to go out and find replacements for Diggs and Griffen, but if that means Zettel and Sharpe are both going to try and fill the void that Griffen and Diggs left, then the Vikings might as well say they’re rebuilding.
Zettel is coming off a season where he played in five regular season games, tallying six tackles. Griffen had 41 total tackles at defensive end for the Vikings last season. Griffen had eight sacks and an interception, being a nice complement to pass rusher Danielle Hunter on the other side of the defensive line. Hunter had 14.5 sacks in 2019-20.
Zettel isn’t good enough to replace the production of Griffen, and if he’s a starter on the defensive line next season, opposing offensive lines will be able to focus more attention on Hunter than they did in 2019-20.
However, I think if the Vikings are going to draft a starting defensive end, and Zettel is simply a player the team uses in limited situations, Minnesota has a chance to adequately replace Griffen’s production.
And then there’s Diggs’ potential replacement. Sharpe is a solid option as the third or fourth best wide receiver on a team, but if he’s going to be a heavy-usage wideout who’s paired with Adam Thielen, then the passing game will fall off.
Sharpe has totaled 1,167 career receiving yards in his three active seasons with the Titans. Diggs was the Vikings’ leading receiver with 1,130 yards in 2019-20. Expecting Sharpe to come in and replace Diggs is expecting too much. Similar to the team’s situation with Griffen, the Vikings need to find Diggs’ replacement in the draft, when Sharpe can be a reserve and given limited reps in order for the Vikings to succeed.
The draft is right around the corner and the Vikings have 12 picks in total. Hopefully, some of those picks will be used to address the needs at defensive end and wide receiver, despite the team reportedly signing talent in free agency.
