After restructuring his contract, Minnesota Vikings might have opened the door to trade Anthony Barr.
As the Minnesota Vikings figured out how to get under the salary cap, linebacker Anthony Barr stood out as a possible surprise cut. His apparent resistance to having his contract restructured reinforced the idea he could be let go. But the Vikings have gotten their way.
Reports of a revised contract for Barr first surfaced on Sunday. On Monday morning, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported the details.
The Vikings will gain $2.9 million in cap space for this year, which doesn’t seem that significant. But in exchange for taking the pay cut, Barr will become a free agent next year. He was originally under contract through 2023, via the five-year, $67.5 million deal he signed in 2019 after almost leaving for the New York Jets in free agency.
Will the Vikings trade Anthony Barr now?
Barr missed 14 games last season after suffering a torn pectoral, and his overall numbers have consistently disappointed over seven seasons with the Vikings. But his advocates, including head coach Mike Zimmer, will point to Barr’s intangible value to the Minnesota defense in terms of knowing where the other 10 guys should be, etc. The value of those intangibles can be debated, but Barr was one of many notable absences on the Vikings’ defense last season.
Barr is now headed into the final year of his contract, and he has shown promise as an edge rusher. Another team could surely see untapped potential there, as it seems the Jets did two years ago. A professed defensive guru like Zimmer simply hasn’t gotten pass rush impact from Barr, toeing the line of not needing him to do it and outright not using him properly (or at least to the full extent of his abilities).
In the wake of the reworked deal, the Vikings will say the right things about keeping Barr for 2021 now and he’ll say he’s committed to helping the team win this year. But other teams surely noticed that his contract has had two years clipped off it, so inadvertently or not the Vikings have opened the door for trade offers.