Minnesota Vikings: 5 Possible cuts to make in 2020 offseason

1. Xavier Rhodes

Perhaps the biggest move that the Minnesota Vikings could make when it comes to players they will look to cut ahead of the 2020 season lies at veteran cornerback Xavier Rhodes.

Rhodes, who concluded his seventh season in the NFL and with Minnesota in 2019, struggled to some extent during the year and his performance raised some eyebrows in a negative way.

Although Rhodes ended up surprisingly earning his third Pro Bowl selection at the end of the year, going along with selections to the game in both 2016 and 2017, his performance throughout the season was put into question nearly every week while the often-stellar cornerback was exposed often throughout the year.

Rhodes managed to record a total of 63 tackles, 54 of those being solo tackles, in 2019. For the first time since his rookie season in 2013, Rhodes failed to record an interception throughout the regular season or postseason.

His statistics don’t look all that bad while he often matched up against an opposing team’s top wide receiving target, but oftentimes throughout a game and during the season, Rhodes looked a step slow and was often viewed as a player who has taken a step back.

That alone brings into question whether or not the organization should stick with the cornerback and his large contract moving forward and if they should ultimately cut Rhodes this offseason.

In 2017, Rhodes signed a six-year, $78 million deal with the Vikings. The 2019 season marked the third year of Rhodes’ current six-year, $78 million contract which will expire following the 2022 campaign. The average earning per year of his six-year salary is a little over $14 million a season.

There’s no question that Rhodes’ contract far exceeded his performance in 2019, and that could persuade Minnesota into cutting him before the 2020 campaign begins.