Brian Flores‘ first Minnesota Vikings defense will feature one of the Green Bay Packers’ longtime contributors. Veteran defensive lineman Dean Lowry is leaving for a two-year Vikings deal, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.
An 80-game Green Bay starter from 2016-22, Lowry will head to Minneapolis on a two-year deal worth $8.5M, Pelissero adds (on Twitter). Lowry will join a Vikings defensive line that just lost two-year standout Dalvin Tomlinson.
Prior to suffering a Christmas Day calf injury that ended his season two games early, Lowry had played 101 straight games. The Packers had previously extended the Kenny Clark sidekick—on a three-year, $20.25M deal—back in 2019, but the team used one of its two first-round picks on defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt last year. With Lowry going into a contract year, that draft investment pointed him out of Wisconsin.
While Lowry only contributed a half-sack to the Packers’ cause last season, he totaled five—to go with a career-high nine QB hits and four pass batdowns—in 2021. Pro Football Focus ranked Lowry outside the top 70 last season, but he is still just 28 and makes sense as a starter or a rotational piece alongside Harrison Phillips.
Minnesota is attempting to bounce back from a woeful defensive season in its first post-Mike Zimmer campaign. Flores will be tasked with leading the charge, but the Vikes passed on going to the place the Browns went—four years, $57M—for Tomlinson. Although the Vikings wanted to re-sign Tomlinson, they will instead regroup with Lowry. The Packers still have Clark and Wyatt signed, with the veteran’s deal running through 2024.
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