It’s still not very clear where the report came from, or if there really is one, but Vikings head coach adamantly denied that the Vikings are considering trading outside linebacker Anthony Barr.
Zimmer moved up the timing of his press conference on Friday to address what he called an “erroneous” report.
“Anthony is my guy, number one. We are unequivocally not trying to trade Anthony,” Zimmer said. “There’s no – none whatsoever truth to that rumor. He had a tweak yesterday and we kept him out of practice for a while, and he should be out there today.”
We haven’t been able to find anyone reporting the rumor, but we do know that KFAN’s Dan Barreiro and Justin Gaard were talking about the possibility during their Thursday radio show, but nowhere in that discussion did they officially report that Barr was on the trading block.
Speculation about Barr’s status ramped up after Barr was missing from the first-team defense during Thursday’s training camp practice. Like Zimmer said, that had to do with a minor injury, nothing else.
All of the speculation would go away if the Vikings are able to sign Barr to a contract extension. His rookie contract expires after this season, meaning there’s big risk for him to play without any long-term guarantees.
“We’re trying to get him signed,” Zimmer noted. “Hopefully we can.”
