Waived during the 2023 season, Shaquill Griffin has now played for three teams since his Seahawks rookie contract expired. He now has a chance to add another team to his resume.
The Vikings will add Griffin, per the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling. A former multiyear Seahawks and Jaguars starter, Griffin spent last season with the Texans and Panthers.
Griffin’s stock has certainly dipped over the past few years. The Jaguars gave him a three-year, $40M deal in 2021, bringing him over after a successful run with the Seahawks. A back injury in 2022 led to Griffin being a cap casualty after the season, as no guaranteed money remained on the deal for 2023. The Texans then waived Griffin, whom they used as a Derek Stingley Jr. injury replacement, in November. The Panthers claimed the former third-round pick, but he only played in three games with the team.
For his career, Griffin has 79 starts. He made six last season. This included a Bengals game in which Griffin notched a key interception in the team’s road win over a team that still had Joe Burrow healthy. Pro Football Focus ranks Griffin 53rd among corners last year. That is a mid-pack mark. While Griffin only allowed a 71.4 passer rating as the closest defender, Stingley’s return prompted the Texans to relegate him to the bench. After only playing on special teams in his final Houston weeks, Griffin hit the waiver wire.
A steady starter with the Seahawks to close out his rookie contract, Griffin will join a Vikings team that features Byron Murphy as its top corner. The team returns auxiliary options Josh Metellus, Mekhi Blackmon and Akayleb Evans. While the Vikes have made bigger commitments to bolstering their front seven in free agency — from signing Jonathan Greenard to Blake Cashman to Andrew Van Ginkel — Griffin represents their most notable DB addition thus far.
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