The Minnesota Vikings bring back a familiar face as they signed DE Everson Griffen, the team announced on Monday.
Griffen, 33, rejoins the Minnesota Vikings as a free agent following a stint with the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys last season.
Before the start of the 2020 season, Griffen signed a one-year deal with the Cowboys before being traded to the Lions for a sixth-round pick in October of last year. Griffen posted 6.0 sacks in 2020 over 14 games played with Dallas and Detroit.
The four-time Pro Bowl defensive end spent ten years with the Vikings, recording 74.5 sacks and 86.0 tackles-for-loss in 147 games played and 88 starts with the club. During his time in Minnesota, the 11-year veteran was named to three-straight Pro Bowls (2015-17), with his last Pro Bowl selection coming in 2019. His 74.5 sacks with Minnesota ranks seventh all-time in Vikings history.
Griffen recorded three double-digit sack outputs in Minnesota, with his career-high coming in 2017 when he tallied 13.0.
In 2018, Griffen had a mental health crisis that forced him to miss five games with the Vikings that season, but he has gotten that behind him, and hopefully, he can help Minnesota on the defensive line.
In other moves, the Vikings signed RB Ito Smith, waived LB Christian Elliss, QB Danny Etling, DT Jordon Scott, and placed DE Janarius Robinson on injured reserve.
Also, LB Cameron Smith, who was hoping to return from open-heart surgery, announced his retirement from football on Monday. The 24-year-old was drafted in the fifth round by Minnesota in 2019. He spent most of his time on Minnesota’s practice squad during that 2019 season.
