The Vikings made another addition to their reloaded defense this week, bringing back longtime pass-rushing stalwart Everson Griffen.
After a year away, Griffen is back in the state where he spent the first decade of his career. The 33-year-old will, at least for now, be a situational pass rusher for Mike Zimmer and the Vikings, coming into games in passing situations and doing whatever he can to get after the quarterback. That might be from the edge or it might be from the interior.
Whatever his role ends up being, Griffen is just happy to be back in a place that feels like home. He feels loved and appreciated in Minnesota, and regrets leaving in the first place.
Two questions came to mind when Griffen signed with the Vikings: what would his contract look like and what number would he wear?
We know the answer to the first one. Griffen signed a one-year, $1.075 million veteran minimum deal. He has a cap hit of $850,000 and a split provision that would drop his base salary to $565,000 and his cap hit to $465,000 if he were to be placed on injured reserve this season.
As for the number, it remains to be seen whether Griffen will be back in the 97 jersey that he popularized over his ten seasons in Minnesota. That number is currently held by nose tackle Michael Pierce, who is more than willing to give it up out of respect for Griffen's legacy with the franchise. However, Griffen would have to spend several hundred thousand dollars to buy out the existing inventory of No. 97 Pierce jerseys.
If he decides to do that, Pierce will just choose another number after roster cuts on Tuesday. No. 95 is available now that Janarius Robinson is on injured reserve, and one could imagine No. 90 (Jalyn Holmes) opening up as well.
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