Report: Vikings likely to retain CB Patrick Peterson, let LB Anthony Barr walk

The top-two remaining free agents the Vikings have are cornerback Patrick Peterson and linebacker Anthony Barr. According to Chris Tomasson of The Pioneer Press, the former is more likely to remain in Minnesota than the latter.

As Tomasson notes, Peterson has spoken often about wanting to remain with the team. The 31-year-old signed a one-year, $8M deal last offseason after a decade with the Cardinals. His level of play — 45 tackles and one interception in 13 games — led to a PFF grade of 63. That is a long way from the All-Pro standard he set during his time in Arizona, but it could be enough to earn him an extended stay in his new home.

“Pat Pete’s a great person, a great player in this league for a long time”, said general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. “You want to make sure you respect a player of his caliber, his expertise in this league, but also the reality of the situation we’re in from a salary-cap standpoint.”

As for Barr, 30, Tomasson notes that the acquisition of Za’Darius Smith could lead him elsewhere. Between Smith and Danielle Hunter ‚ whom the team could be looking to extend, rather than trade, as once thought — the Vikings appear to be set at the OLB spot in their new 3-4 scheme. The four-time Pro Bowler has been with the team since 2014, but has missed 20 games over the past two seasons. A new contract would be complicated by the fact he already carries of dead money cap charge of $10.8M.

“That’s going to be a tougher situation to navigate”, Adofo-Mensah said of Barr. “Never say never. Obviously, there are things salary-cap related with acceleration and things like that that made that kind of a challenging deal.”

At present, the Vikings likely have enough cap room to afford bringing back one, but not both, of Peterson and Barr. From a positional standpoint, the former has a clearer path to being a starter, which explains the team’s openness to a new contract. If that does come to fruition, Barr could very well be in Peterson’s position from one year ago, needing to find a new team after several high-quality years with the one that drafted him.