NFL veteran defensive lineman Everson Griffen is expected to sign a one-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings. Griffen spent the 2020 season with the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions.
Reunion: The #Vikings are expected to sign veteran pass-rusher Everson Griffen, who worked out for his old friends last week, source said. Griffen had 6 sacks last year for the #Cowboys and #Lions, but spent every season prior in Minnesota.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 23, 2021
Everson Griffen, Minnesota Vikings, Expected to Agree to Deal
Everson Griffen signed a one-year contract with the Dallas Cowboys in mid-August of 2020. He had spent the previous 10 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings.
His stay in Dallas did not last long, as he was traded to the Detroit Lions for a sixth-round pick in late October of 2020. Griffen’s final stats with the Cowboys were 2.5 sacks, 21 tackles, three tackles for loss and one pass defensed.
Once he arrived in Detroit, he still provided good production with 3.5 sacks in just seven games. In his days with Minnesota, Griffen always saw more than 50% of defensive snaps every year. With Dallas and Detroit, he only appeared in 25% and 22% respectively.
Griffen was a game-wrecker as a Viking. He played alongside another great defensive end in Jared Allen for the first four years of his career and likely learned a lot from him. Griffen earned four Pro Bowl appearances in his time with the Vikings, most recently in 2019. In his 10 years with Minnesota, Griffen totaled 355 tackles, 86 tackles for loss, 74.5 sacks, and 176 quarterback hits. His 74.5 sacks are fourth all-time in Vikings history, and will likely go down as a Minnesota legend when it is all said and done.
The real turning point of Griffen’s career was in 2014. Jared Allen had left in free agency, so Griffen would finally get his chance to really show what he could do as the top pass rusher on the roster. He showed up and recorded 12 sacks that year, then 10.5 in 2015, which would be his first Pro Bowl season.
After 2015, Griffen would continue his Pro Bowl streak for another two years, and then again in 2019. He became a leader for the Vikings and was voted a captain in both 2018 and 2019.
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