Vikings' Eric Kendricks becomes cap casualty

Eric Kendricks. Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Vikings LB Eric Kendricks becomes cap casualty, highly sought free agent

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated 3/6/23

The Minnesota Vikings cut linebacker Eric Kendricks Monday morning, ending his eight-year career with the franchise.

We have released LB Eric Kendricks.
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) March 6, 2023

Since being selected by the Vikings in the second round with the 45th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, Kendricks had crafted one of the best careers among all Minnesota defensive players. He led the Vikings in tackles in seven of his eight seasons (second only to former Pro Bowl linebacker Scott Studwell's eight) and paced the team in tackles in a franchise-record 66 games.

His 919 regular season tackles rank second among all NFL players, trailing only Bobby Wagner (1,159) since 2015. Wagner was cut by the Los Angeles Rams in February in a cost-saving move as well.

The release of LB Eric Kendricks leaves behind $1.93M of dead cap, freeing up $9.5M of space for the #Vikings.

Minnesota now stands about $11M in the red heading toward the new league year. https://t.co/u83ijdAL56
— Spotrac (@spotrac) March 6, 2023

There's a long list of notable free agent linebackers this offseason including: Bobby Wagner, Tremaine Edmunds, Lavonte David, T.J. Edwards, David Long and now Eric Kendricks. https://t.co/ogeifDnJok
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 6, 2023

Kendricks made his only Pro Bowl and was named First Team All-Pro in 2019 when he posted 110 tackles, a career-high 12 passes defended, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He was named the Vikings Community Man of the Year in 2020 and finished last season with a career-high 87 solo tackles across 17 games.

While Kendricks is one of Minnesota's all-time greats on defense, the cut wasn't a shock due to his age (31) and salary ($11.43 million). Despite having just turned 31, Kendricks has shown the durability and consistency to earn another contract with another team and should easily be able to find himself a new home this spring.

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