Let the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive line rebuild begin.
Early on in the “legal tampering” period of free agency the Vikings made an immediate big splash by signing former Houston Texans pass rusher Jonathan Greenard to a four-year contract worth $76 million with $42 million guaranteed.
Greenard had a breakout season in 2023, picking up 12.5 sacks and creating 48 pressures on 405 pass rush snaps. He ranked by PFF as the 22nd (out of 59) best edge rusher in the NFL, one spot above Danielle Hunter, and was solid against the run rating as the 30th best run defender among edge players in the league.
His pass rush win rate hovered around average (30th) by PFF’s metrics but ESPN’s stats ranked him much higher in that category. Brandon Thorn of the Trench Warfare noted that Greenard had the fourth most “quality sacks” by his charting last season.
If Greenard can continue his production over to the Vikings, it will likely result in a more savvy decision than bringing Hunter back. Hunter is three years older (Greenard has not yet turned 27) and carries much more risk because of his past injuries. Since Greenard just recently had a breakout season, playing a career high 632 snaps, he does not have much milage on his body. The only concern is that he has not yet played a full season in part due to injuries and does not have a huge sample size of success and may be asked to play more snaps under Brian Flores than he ever has before.
The Vikings still have plenty of work to do in the trenches with open spots at defensive tackle and edge rusher still to fill and offensive guard on the other side of the ball. One player that they had interest in, Christian Wilkins of the Dolphins, signed a mega deal for $110 million over four years with the Raiders.
The Vikings announced that they are keeping backup linemen Blake Brandel and David Quessenberry.
