Minnesota Vikings expected to let Anthony Barr walk

The Minnesota Vikings are about to learn a tough lesson of being a talented team in the NFL. It’s impossible to keep everybody you want.

Having thrown big money at a host of key players including Kirk Cousins last offseason, the salary cap space has disappeared for the Vikings. The timing isn’t the best as their four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Anthony Barr is set to become a free agent. Not ideal given how many things he’s able to do from his outside linebacker position both as a pass rusher and tackler in space. Some still hold out hope the team may use the franchise tag to keep him one more year.

Yet even that seems unlikely. A tag would cost over $15 million dollars for the 2019 season. Minnesota has barely half that money left to spend. With a number of other free agents they have to address, it just doesn’t seem doable. That is why Field Yates of ESPN believes they’ll bite the bullet and let him walk.

"“LB Anthony Barr: Amid an offseason when several key players (including Stefon Diggs, Danielle Hunter and Eric Kendricks) received new deals, it was notable that Barr did not. Head coach Mike Zimmer is a defensive mastermind who certainly wouldn’t want to surrender a player like Barr who has flashed skill throughout his career, but the Vikings are a team with enough talent that difficult decisions are going to be a norm in choosing whom to extend and whom to replace. With a strong need to fortify the offensive line, the Vikings might use their assets there while allowing Barr to test the market.Verdict: Let Barr walk.”"

Anthony Barr will get paid while Vikings try difficult task of replacing him

There is no question about one thing. Barr is going to get his money. Linebackers of his quality don’t become available often in free agency and there are plenty of teams out there who need somebody like him. That should create a healthy market for him to get the deal he’s looking for. Meanwhile, the Vikings have the unenviable task of trying to replace him. Mike Zimmer is a good coach and the defense is talented enough to survive.

Still that sort of void isn’t easy to fill. It’s possible the team may try to make a counter move by using their 1st round draft pick at the position. The problem is this doesn’t seem to be the strongest class in terms of linebackers. So they’d either need the board to fall their way or take help at another position and hope they can find somebody good in the later rounds. Their draft track record the past few years gives them the credibility to think either way will work.