Pro Bowl cornerback Brandon Flowers was released by the Kansas City Chiefs last week, and according to 1500ESPN.com and Chiefs Insider, the Vikings have reached out to Flowers.
ESPN’s Ben Goessling wrote that Flowers, despite being named to the Pro Bowl last season, struggled in Kansas City’s press-man coverage defensive scheme. Goessling says Flowers is better suited to play zone coverage, which Minnesota won’t be based in under new head coach Mike Zimmer and defensive coordinator George Edwards.
Flowers, 28, was a second-round draft choice in 2008. He has 17 interceptions in 88 career games, according to Pro Football Reference.
Flowers was rated a top 10 cornerback every season from 2008-2012 before falling to 87th in 2013, per Pro Football Focus. Despite his drop in production, most pundits believe Flowers has a lot left in the tank. Check out all of the tweets supporting Flowers, via ArrowheadPride.com.
The Viking Age is more critical of the idea of signing Flowers because the simple possibility the Vikings might be interested in signing him speaks volumes about the lack of perceived confidence the coaching staff has in the current defensive backfield.
NFL.com listed seven potential landing spots for Flowers, and the Vikings weren’t one of them. Atlanta and Houston were considered the favorites.
Mike Wobschall of Vikings.com says the fact that Flowers didn’t end up on NFL.com’s list of potential suitors is a sign that the odds of Flowers joining the Vikings are slim. Wobschall did discuss the possibility:
Given the signing of Captain Munnerlyn earlier this offseason, who projects to slide inside to play nickel corner in sub packages, a high-profile addition to the depth chart now would mean the player would have to project to play primarily outside. For the Vikings to have interest in Flowers, they would have to see him as an outside corner and Flowers would have to be on board with that, as well. There are also salary cap concerns – this is a big reason why the Chiefs had to part ways with Flowers.
