Entering a contract season, linebacker Anthony Barr was notably missing from the start of the team’s organized team activities (OTAs) on Wednesday.
“He came to me yesterday and said he wasn’t going to be here,” head coach Mike Zimmer said when asked about Barr’s absence.
When asked if Barr was sitting out the voluntary OTAs because of his contract situation, Zimmer said: “I don’t know, I don’t worry about those things. I just know the conversation we had and I’m going to keep it between myself and him.”
Barr, 26, is entering his fifth season since being drafted ninth overall by the Vikings in 2014. He’s due to make a base salary of $12.3 million in 2018 and then will be a free agent in 2019.
It’s impossible to say if Barr not attending the opening of OTAs is contract related, but without any guaranteed money in 2018 and beyond it’s a major risk for Barr to take the field without assurance that he’s got some guaranteed money in the pipeline.
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When middle linebacker Eric Kendricks signed a contract extension with the Vikings in April, multiple reporters figured Barr would be next in line.
That has yet to happen, and both wide receiver Stefon Diggs and defensive end Danielle Hunter have similar contract situations.
