Vikings get Peterson

From the Athletic…………

The Minnesota Vikings have agreed to a one-year deal worth $10 million with free-agent cornerback Patrick Peterson, a source confirmed to The Athletic.

Peterson, 30, played 10 seasons for the Cardinals and received eight Pro Bowl invitations. He played 99 percent of the Cardinals snaps and had three interceptions during the 2020 season.

How Peterson fits in Minnesota
Chad Graff, Vikings beat writer: For the first time in Zimmer’s tenure, the Vikings were a mess on defense last season. The unit ranked 29th in points allowed and 30th in net yards per pass attempt. Zimmer attempted to revamp the Vikings’ cornerback crew last year, drafting Cameron Dantzler and Jeff Gladney while letting established veterans walk. The two rookies had some success, but the Vikings badly lacked depth and star power at the position. Peterson fixes that.

The addition likely also allows the Vikings to play their corners at their natural positions, too. Peterson can play opposite Dantzler on the outside, while Gladney slides into his customary spot in the slot. Plus, Zimmer will value the mentoring that Peterson can provide to the pair of corners preparing for their second year in the league.

Big picture
Graff: It’s clear now that the Vikings’ top priority this week was to improve Zimmer’s defense. In order to help the run defense, they agreed to a deal with Dalvin Tomlinson. In order to help the pass defense, they added Peterson. He’ll be a Day 1 starter, and if Dantzler improves as the Vikings hope, they’ll boast two above-average corners on the outside.

The Vikings’ secondary isn’t completely settled, since they still need a safety to play opposite Harrison Smith. But just adding Peterson is a big step in the right direction for a secondary that got picked apart last season.

Good get.

No scare me like that.

Thought you were going to say Adrian.

Not bad. We will see what he has left. Would have rather we threw that money at a guard but not like our secondary was good last year either

As far as name recognition, that’s actually a pretty big splash. His best days are likely behind him but he’s definitely an addition to the secondary and could really be a good mentor to a very young group.

I guess we’re going to neglect the O line again this year. At least all the defensive moves will allow us to draft 6 O linemen that will probably not pan out…..

The way I’ve seen free agency pan out, the defensive signings have been much cheaper than what the better O-linemen were signing for. And from what I’ve heard guys like Ben Leber say, the draft is better and deeper at O-line than defense, so before free agency started Leber was saying they should go defense in free agency and O-line in the draft.

They did sign Roshad Hill…..now all they need to do is really hit home runs (grand slams) on 2 more linemen in the draft who can start and excel at a high level immediately, and we’ll be just fine!

We’ll just see how that works out when you play the Bears. We just got Andy Dalton.

mahtofire14 wrote:

I guess we’re going to neglect the O line again this year. At least all the defensive moves will allow us to draft 6 O linemen that will probably not pan out…..

While I do agree with you on this, it is hard to turn a blind eye to how awful our defense was last year. I’m not sure how much Petersen has left in the tank, but he is ONLY 30, so should still have a couple good years left. Allowing Petersen to play opposite of Dantzler and then have Gladney play his natural position in the slot could make some noteworthy improvements fast.

That being said, if our o-line is a colander [again] this year then you may actually see fans torching Spielman’s office.

This is a good move for the Vikings. Their defense was bad and Peterson has a lot left in the tank even if he isn’t a 1 on 1 shutdown type guy anymore, he’s still a top 10 CB in the game. He could also slide over and play some safety too in packages depending on how the draft and free agency finishes. As far as rank of “needs” goes, I’d have said #1 = OL, #2 = Secondary, #3 = DL. It looks like they’ve done something to address 2 and 3 already. I’d be shocked if they don’t go DL or OL in the draft early.

I see both them and the Packers at 10-6/11-5 splitting head to head matchups. The Packers are running back roughly the same team minus an all-pro center against one of the toughest schedules. The Vikings should be better and underachieved at times last year.

waldo9190 wrote:

While I do agree with you on this, it is hard to turn a blind eye to how awful our defense was last year.

I generally agree. Successful teams often have continuity and a strong offensive line.

However, clearly that was not the pressing issue last season. It was the defense, and primarily the run defense. Getting Pierce and Hunter back in there, along with signing Tomlinson and Peterson, should at least in theory fix this issue.

O line is far and away the most important spot for the Vikes. A good O line can control the game and keep the defense fresh. In 2017 the Vikes controlled the ball on offense and that allowed our talented defense to stay fresh and be the best in the league. The following year, our O line fell apart and so did that same talented defense. Controlling the game on offense and keeping the defense fresh is even more important against good teams. Spielman clearly does not get that! This was good signing but ultimately doesn’t make the Vikes a contender.

Seems like a solid pickup, even if his best days are behind him he should still be more than serviceable. Plus Zimmer has a solid history developing DB’s and getting solid production out of older DB’s in particular.

As far as the OL goes, they need some help but it’s not as far from competent as it has been lately. Last year they were middle of the pack run blocking, and near the bottom pass blocking. They return some young guys that were serviceable and should be improving in Bradbury, Cleveland and O’Neil. Rashod Hill is decent, so really they need one starter, maybe 2 if you see Hill as a backup, along with some depth. I’d expect them to add one Guard in FA yet, and hopefully another near the top of their draft.

BigWerm wrote:

Seems like a solid pickup, even if his best days are behind him he should still be more than serviceable. Plus Zimmer has a solid history developing DB’s and getting solid production out of older DB’s in particular.

As far as the OL goes, they need some help but it’s not as far from competent as it has been lately. Last year they were middle of the pack run blocking, and near the bottom pass blocking. They return some young guys that were serviceable and should be improving in Bradbury, Cleveland and O’Neil. Rashod Hill is decent, so really they need one starter, maybe 2 if you see Hill as a backup, along with some depth. I’d expect them to add one Guard in FA yet, and hopefully another near the top of their draft.

I think they normally use Hill as a backup tackle unless they plan on moving him to guard this year. I think we need two starting guards.

Bradbury also needs to improve at center this year but he was surrounded by trash guard play last year so i have a feeling more competent play around him will help. Would be nice if we got Rodney Huston

Everyone, amateur and professional analysts, keep saying how bad the Vikings defense was and that they HAVE TO make it better.

Pierce, their #1 free agent, opted out. Hunter was out from the beginning. Barr was out from the beginning. Hughes and Boyd were injured most of the season. Dantzler had a hammy issue that nagged him all season. And Kendricks had the calf injury.

NO KIDDING their defense was bad!!!!

But they get most of those guys back, immediately making their defense better.

Therefore I agree, OL should be the focus in the draft. Lots of money invested in Cousins and Cook, need some line protection for both of them.

Although I have always agreed with drafting for talent not for need, at least in the first couple rounds.

Peterson is a plus, on the field and off the field teaching these young guys. Too bad it is only a 1 year deal, for now.

crappie55369 wrote:

I think they normally use Hill as a backup tackle unless they plan on moving him to guard this year. I think we need two starting guards.

Yeah depends on what they do with Cleveland, he wasn’t very good as a rookie guard and played tackle in college, so he may slide over to tackle, and then Hill either plays guard or backs up at Tackle.

toddrun wrote:

Pierce, their #1 free agent, opted out. Hunter was out from the beginning. Barr was out from the beginning. Hughes and Boyd were injured most of the season. Dantzler had a hammy issue that nagged him all season. And Kendricks had the calf injury.

NO KIDDING their defense was bad!!!!

But they get most of those guys back, immediately making their defense better.

X2 – Yes their rankings on the field were really BAD. But they had the players on the roster to be a much better team. Injuries are something ever team needs to deal with, but the Vikings seemed to have more than normal for most of the season last year. Lets hope everyone can come back healthy this year and they can pick up some necessary pieces from Free agency and the draft this off season.