The Tennessee Titans were busy on Wednesday afternoon in making roster cuts. They cut three players with wide receiver Robers Woods being one of them.
Buy Vikings TicketsBreaking: #Titans released WR Robert Woods, sources tell @theScore.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) February 22, 2023
Despite the Minnesota Vikings already having a stacked wide receiver room featuring Adam Thielen, K.J. Osborn and Justin Jefferson, the idea of bringing Robert Woods onto the team should be one that fans at least consider.
While Woods turns 31 in April, he has an impressive track record of making big plays and being a great player on an NFL team, so there’s no denying that Woods would be a valuable addition to the Vikings’ roster. Let’s take a look at some reasons why the Vikings should sign Robert Woods.
His familiarity with head coach Kevin O'Connell
This is the biggest reason why the Vikings should bring in Robert Woods. When Kevin O’Connell was the offensive coordinator with the Los Angeles Rams, Woods was a wide receiver for the team. While they only spent two seasons together, Woods was a key player for the Rams offense.
In 2020, Woods hauled in 90 receptions for 936 yards and six touchdowns.
In 2021, Woods’ season was cut short when he tore his ACL in week nine, but he still was able to collect 45 receptions for 545 yards and four touchdowns.
While some of this success could be credited to Rams head coach Sean McVay, O’Connell has pulled a lot of the same ideas from the Rams offense back then, and that familiarity would help Woods step right in and contribute.
Adam Thielen might be gone
As it stands today, the Vikings’ wide receiver room is pretty full, but there have been rumblings about whether or not Adam Theilen will return to the Vikings this next season.
Thielen is due $19.9 million this upcoming season, which is the second most on the team behind quarterback Kirk Cousins. The Vikings have two options with Theilen. Cut him with a post-June first designation, which would give the team $13.4 million in cap savings while accruing $6.5 million in dead cap.
Or the Vikings could restructure Thielen and save about $7 million in cap space, according to Over The Cap.
Either way, Thielen is not likely to come back at his current cap hit. If the Vikings feel they can get similar production from Woods, it could make sense to move on from Theilen and have Woods step in at a reduced rate.
He'd be cheap and could provide veteran leadership
This one sort of goes hand in hand with the Theilen topic, but Woods is turning 31 in April and is only a little over a year away from tearing his ACL. meaning that his contract will likely be short and cheap.
Signing a cheap veteran wide receiver like Woods, who has a Super Bowl on his resume, is a no-brainer for the Vikings. The Vikings are likely going to draft a receiver in the draft, so they could not only utilize Woods’ ability on the field but also his veteran leadership to help develop a young guy.
Woods’ leadership has been praised throughout his career and getting another guy in the locker room who understands his role and helps out the young guys will be imperative to building a successful locker room. He also has a lot of experience in this offense which would be immensely valuable to the Vikings as they enter the second year of O’Connell’s offense.
Conclusion
While signing Woods would likely not be the flashiest signing, it would help the Vikings in a multitude of ways. He knows the offense, would be significantly cheaper, and he’d bring with him a Super Bowl-winning resume that could help continue to build on the culture Kevin O’Connell has started.
A lot of dominoes would need to fall before the Vikings make this move, but with the reasons listed above, it’s a move that fans and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah should consider as we get closer to free agency.
