The deadline to franchise players came and went on Tuesday afternoon, and the Vikings, as expected, decided not to franchise-tag linebacker Anthony Barr.
Barr will become an unrestricted free agent now.
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said last week that while he’d love Barr and Sheldon Richardson back, he understands that the Vikings have just $5.3 million in salary cap space.
It’s unlikely that Barr will return given the fact that the Vikings have other needs (offensive line, offensive line, offensive line) and he’s been inconsistent throughout his career. There’s a reason why the Vikings got deals done with players like Eric Kendricks and Danielle Hunter and not Barr.
In the next few weeks, we’ll start hearing what teams are interested in Barr and we’ll know more about what it will take to sign him. I’d be surprised if the Vikings were in those talks.
