15. Minnesota Vikings re-sign Anthony Barr
The New York Jets were all-in during free agency. ‘Crazy Eyes’ Adam Gase and former general manager Mike Maccagnan got to work fast and landed former Baltimore Ravens linebacker C.J. Mosley, running back Le’Veon Bell and even came to terms with Minnesota Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr.
As for the Vikings, they weren’t too keen on losing Barr, so they decided to make a new offer in the 11th hour. Thankfully for them, Barr and his agent agreed during the incredibly useless “legal tampering” period, which meant nothing could be officially signed just yet.
Minnesota used that as its chance to get back in contact with Barr and his representatives. The Vikings ended up getting him to return to the team. The deal he wound up signing will pay him $67.5 million over the next five seasons with $33 million of that being guaranteed.
At first, it seems like a large contract for a player who had just 55 tackles last season, but they really couldn’t stand to lose Barr. He’s a player who can help in multiple ways, as he’s effective against the run, but can also bring the heat rushing the passer, which makes him incredibly valuable in the eyes of head coach Mike Zimmer.
Overall, the Vikings had a decent offseason. They extended wide receiver Adam Thielen, kept from losing Barr and effectively replaced Latavius Murray, who left in free agency, with rookie Alexander Mattison.
Their only real negative came from losing Sheldon Richardson to the Cleveland Browns, which made it even more imperative that they didn’t lose Barr and find themselves looking at another big hole to fill.