Minnesota Vikings should go after Eric Decker
It looks like the Jets will be parting ways with Eric Decker and the Vikings should be in on him.
There’s not a lot that Minnesotans love more than loving celebrities that have taken a breath of air in our beloved state. For example, did you know that John Madden was born in Austin, MN? Or that Vince Vaughn was born in Minneapolis? Or, my personal favorite, did you know that Chris Pratt was born in Virginia, Minnesota?
Those are maybe ones you didn’t know, but many know of Adam Thielen with his being from Detroit Lakes and attending Minnesota State University Mankato and Michael Floyd being from St. Paul and going to Cretin-Derham High School. The Minnesota Vikings already have those two Minnesota native wide receivers, so why not add a third?
Adam Schefter of ESPN is reporting that Eric Decker will be leaving the New York Jets in the coming days either via release or trade.
And now the Jets are parting ways with WR Eric Decker, sources tell ESPN. Have told WR they either will release or trade him this week.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 6, 2017
Decker is 30 years old and has been in the NFL for seven seasons. Decker spent four seasons with the Denver Broncos and three with the New York Jets. The 6-3 receiver from Cold Spring came to prominence as a standout receiver with the Minnesota Golden Gophers before being a third round draft pick.
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The soon to be former Jet is coming off a season where he only played in three games. Decker was placed on the injured reserve on October 12. Before his injury-ridden season, Decker had a four season streak of having over 70 catches per season with double-digit touchdowns in three of those four seasons.
Decker has grabbed 52 total touchdowns in his career in 95 games played. He has 385 catches for 5,253 yards in his career. Decker has an average of 13.6 yards per catch.
The resume is definitely something virtually every team will want and that is part of the issue. Decker will demand a nice price tag either via the pieces needed in a trade or with the contract that is needed to get his services. As 1500 ESPN reports, the Vikings would have the room to take on Decker, but if he hits the free agent market, it is likely that other teams will be able to outbid the Vikings with no guarantee that the Minnesota native would give a hometown discount.
The other issue is that the Vikings have a lot of receivers right now. We have only mentioned the other Minnesotans in Thielen and Floyd, but also seen as targets are Stefon Diggs and Laquon Treadwell. The Vikings also drafted receivers Rodney Adams and Stacey Cole. In that group, though, no one is a sure thing outside of Diggs and Thielen. Floyd couldn’t seem to get too much playing time in New England at the end of the season and if Bill Belichick couldn’t find a great way to utilize him, do we really think that Pat Shurmur will?
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It is obvious that the Vikings are switching from the run game to a pass game and that is why they should go after Decker. If Decker was added to the core, the Vikings will give Sam Bradford three Pro Bowl caliber receivers to throw to and with Bradford’s accuracy there should be plenty of catches to go around.
The NFL is a weird league, but teams should always be looking to improve their talent base in any way possible. Decker may not be used to being a number three receiving option, but his addition would open up the offense completely.
The Vikings should go to the deck for Decker.
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