Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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The NFL's new league year opens in exactly four weeks, as the official 2020 season gets underway at 3 p.m. (CT) on March 18.
At that time, all teams must be under the salary cap, and players whose contracts are set to expire will also become free agents.
While it remains to be seen what roster moves the Vikings will make in the next month, the team does have a dozen-plus players who could potentially become free agents on the afternoon of March 18.
Sam Monson and Steve Palazzolo of the analytics website Pro Football Focus recently took a look at the rosters of each team and compiled the 100 best free agents who could be available in 2020, with four Vikings landing on the list.
Anthony Harris was the highest-ranked Viking, as the safety came in at No. 8 on PFF's list.
One of the league's most underrated players, Harris has been a playmaker on the back end of the Minnesota defense since seeing extended playing time in 2018. Harris has the top regular-season coverage grade among safeties at 91.6 after ranking sixth last season.
He's played the majority of his snaps at free safety, but this season has seen him play about 40% of his snaps in the box or over the slot, showing that he can play a more versatile role in a defense. Harris has nine interceptions and seven pass breakups over the last two years, all while missing just four of his 100 tackle attempts. Playmaking, sure-tackling safeties are of immense value in the NFL, and Harris has shown both traits as much as any safety in the league over the last two seasons.
Harris had made 31 starts since joining the Vikings as an undrafted free agent out of Virginia in the spring of 2015. He has nine interceptions in that timeframe, including six in 2019, which tied for the league lead.
According to PFF's list, Harris is the top safety and the second-best defensive player available.
PFF had Trae Waynes ranked 45th overall, ranking him as the fourth-best cornerback who could become available.
As a former first-round draft pick, Trae Waynes hasn't become the star that the Minnesota Vikings would have been hoping for, but he has developed into a consistently viable starter who excels in the run game while showing enough glimpses of coverage ability to keep teams buying into his overall potential. Waynes has impressive speed, but he has never been able to consistently avoid getting beaten enough to rank among the better corners in the game. He's given up 16 touchdowns over the last four seasons.
Waynes was a first-round pick in 2015 out of Michigan State who has tallied seven total interceptions in 53 starts for the Vikings. A full-time starter for the past three seasons, Waynes was also one of Minnesota's top run defenders on the outside.
Cornerback Mackensie Alexander (No. 65) and safety Jayron Kearse (No. 89) were also mentioned on PFF's list.
It's worth noting that a player who is on this list might not even make it to free agency, as teams can re-sign their own players at any time.
Drew Brees, for example, is the top-ranked player on PFF's list, but the quarterback announced Tuesday that he will not retire and will play for the Saints again in 2020.