Vikings should adjust LB Jonathan Greenard’s contract before it’s too late

AtoZ Sports

Tyler Forness discusses why Minnesota Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah should make adjustments to linebacker Jonathan Greenard's contract before he has another explosive year and asks for even more contract money later down the road

Transcript

00:00Cuesito Fomenta has always been really smart when it comes to the market,

00:03and he should take proactive action with one of his best players right now.

00:11When it comes to the Minnesota Vikings and general manager Cuesito Fomenta,

00:15he's been very calculated as far as how he's managed the finances of his players.

00:21He's been very smart about how they've structured deals,

00:23when they've signed them, and really tried to find inefficiencies in the market.

00:27One of the best ways and examples that we found with Cuesito Fomenta

00:31over his three-year tenure going into year four was the signing last year of Andrew Van Ginkle.

00:36Signed him to a two-year, $20 million contract, and that turned into a second-team All-Pro selection.

00:41Then, this offseason gave him a one-year, $23 million extension,

00:47with $22.4 million of that fully guaranteed.

00:49That essentially turned his contract into a three-year, $43 million contract,

00:53an average annual value of $14.33 million, which is still a bargain when it comes to edge rushers.

00:59Edge rushers have been getting more and more money.

01:01TJ Watt just got a three-year, $123 million extension from the Pittsburgh Steelers,

01:07and George Karloftis just got a four-year, $93 million extension from the Kansas City Chiefs.

01:12It kind of makes you think that Jonathan Gernard might be a little bit underpaid.

01:16He signed a four-year, $76 million deal in free agency last year,

01:20and had a lot of All-Pro support, and he barely missed out on the team with Andrew Van Ginkle

01:26getting the nod over him.

01:28So, why do these extensions have to do with Gernard?

01:31Well, if he has another fantastic year, he's all of a sudden going to be underpaid.

01:35He's 46.3% of the market right now, with that $19 million average annual value salary

01:41only being that 46.3% of the $41 million at the top.

01:44He is easily a top 10 edge rusher, and in the A to Z sports rankings, he barely finished

01:50outside the top 10, but he finished inside mine at ninth.

01:54He is currently 14th when it comes to average annual value after that George Karloftis signing.

01:58So, the smart play might be to adjust his contract now.

02:02So, he does not come to you next year and has a Trey Hendrickson type output and be like,

02:07I want $30 plus million.

02:09Well, maybe you just give him a slight bump, and you give him, I don't know, an extra $3-4

02:15million a year average annual value, extend him by one year, and make it essentially a

02:20four-year deal over the course of the last four years, and make it worth about $95 million,

02:26where you're giving him a bump, and you're trying to beat the market, where you're giving

02:31him that bump now because he played well.

02:32But you're not sitting like the Dallas Cowboys, who should have signed Micah Parsons a year ago,

02:37but are now set to spend about $7 million more than they would have if they had just gotten

02:43the deal done quickly.

02:44And this is where Cuesito Flamence can really exploit the market, beat it, before it tells

02:50the Vikings that he is another massively underpaid edge, just like Daniil Hunter was for years.

02:55I'm Tyler Fornes with ADC Sports, Skull Vikings.

Category

Transcript

Recommended