The Vikings announced an addition to their pass rushing group on Wednesday, saying they agreed to terms with former Saints defensive end Marcus Davenport as the NFL free agent signing period began.
News of the deal, worth a reported $13 million, first surfaced Monday night. The Vikings also announced previously reported agreements with former Cardinals cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. and former Ravens tight end Josh Oliver on Wednesday. They plan to introduce all three players in a news conference Thursday afternoon, though all will have to pass physicals before the deals are official.
The 14th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Davenport posted a career-high nine sacks while playing 11 games in 2021, but had only a half-sack in 14 games last season. He is also something of a gamble because of his injury history: Davenport missed at least two games in each year of his career with the Saints. His 15 games in 2022 were a career high, but he missed two because of a calf injury in November.
His athletic ability, though, makes him an enticing target for a team that needs to improve its pass rush in new defensive coordinator Brian Flores' scheme. The Vikings listed Davenport, who'd been a defensive end in the Saints' 4-3 scheme, as an outside linebacker. Wherever he plays, he will get a chance to show he can stay healthy and make an impression on Flores.
Adding Davenport and Murphy is part of the Vikings' continued effort to remake their defense with younger players in Flores' first year with the team. The Vikings released linebacker Eric Kendricks last week, and two other starters (cornerback Patrick Peterson and defensive end Dalvin Tomlinson) left for AFC North teams (the Steelers and Browns) in free agency.
The Vikings were limited in what they could do in free agency because of salary cap constraints, and could still have decisions to make on players with large cap numbers, such as safety Harrison Smith, running back Dalvin Cook and edge rusher Za'Darius Smith.
The Vikings agreed to new deals Tuesday with four of their pending free agents: Center Garrett Bradbury, long snapper Andrew DePaola, kicker Greg Joseph and backup quarterback Nick Mullens.
On Wednesday, the Vikings re-signed tight end Ben Ellefson and defensive end Kenny Willekes, who were both restricted free agents. But the cap-strapped Vikings did not offer Ellefson the low-level RFA tender, worth $2.6 million for next season, and signed him to a lesser deal, according to a league source.
Ellefson, the Hawley, Minn., native and North Dakota State player, earned a backup role last summer and appeared in four games, but was limited because of a groin injury.
Willekes, the 2020 seventh-round pick out of Michigan State, missed his second of three seasons to a season-ending leg injury.
Staff writer Andrew Krammer contributed to this report.
