The Vikings are in a very interesting spot this offseason. Currently about 11 million over the cap, they will have a lot of tough decisions to make. One of them is cornerback Patrick Peterson.
Signed back in March on a one-year deal worth upwards of $10 million, Peterson provided the Vikings something they needed in the secondary with a veteran presence. They also added Mackensie Alexander and Bashaud Breeland to a room that (then) included Jeff Gladney, Cameron Dantzler and Harrison Hand.
Over the course of the season, Peterson started in 14 games with three of them missed due to a pulled hamstring injury. Throughout his career, he has been great, amassing 544 tackles and snagging 29 interceptions. There were concerns regarding his speed going into the year, and honestly, his play did reflect some of that.
In the 2021 season, Peterson had 45 tackles and one interception, which he took for a touchdown. Per PFF, he had a grade of 63.0 (60th in the NFL) and a pass rush grade of 61.0 (71st). While only being targeted 64 times, he allowed 37 completions for 455 yards and three touchdowns.
Make no mistake, these aren’t bad numbers, but they’re definitely not the level of dominance that we’ve grown accustomed to seeing from him on the field.
The question remains if the Vikings should re-sign him. The current depth chart is only three players deep: Cameron Dantzler, Harrison Hand and Kris Boyd.
Peterson would likely come a little bit cheaper than the maximum deal of $10 million, as he has talked about coming back.
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— Luke Braun (@LukeBraunNFL) February 11, 2022
He can play a solid role on defense, while mentoring the young corners already in the room, along with the new ones that will be brought in as well.
It remains to be seen how the new front office will handle the current roster, but it would be advantageous to bring Peterson back on a team-friendly deal.
