Marcus Davenport #92 of the New Orleans Saints. (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
NFL rumors are all the craze these days, especially over in the NFC: the Saints consider signing one of Derek Carr’s old friends, the Vikings add more depth on the edge, and the Packers get their Adrian Amos replacement.
In a surprisingly uneventful day during NFL free agency, the league mainly had small fish to fry.
A day after the FDU Knights upset No. 1 seeded Purdue in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the NFL’s most pugnacious underdogs in the NFC made some savvy moves of their own, hoping to overthrow the recent dominance of their much stronger older brother, the AFC.
We know, it’s a stretch. We just wanted to keep celebrating FDU’s victory.
While the AFC Goliaths of free agency, Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson, stomp back and forth impatiently awaiting their future, the rest of the league went about the day making under-the-radar transactions.
The Saints hosted Derek Carr’s former teammate for a visit and may be inching closer to a deal as we speak. The Vikings and Packers reinforce their respective defenses with solid starters, preparing for a fully-fledged war in the NFC North.
Here’s more on the three biggest NFL rumors going around right now.
NFL Rumors: Vikings bring on Marcus Davenport to boost the pass-rush
Zadarius Smith still seems disgruntled about his whole situation in Minnesota, but maybe new teammate Marcus Davenport can get him to lighten up.
The Minnesota Vikings inked Davenport to a one-year, $13 million deal on Friday, sending the former first-round pick to the NFC North after five seasons with the Saints.
Picked 14th overall in 2018, Davenport may go down in NOLA’s history as an injury-prone draft bust: he played just 32 games for the franchise and only had two seasons in which he posted six sacks or more. Davenport’s once-glowing potential faded by the year, and the Saints could only watch in horror as their young pass-rusher’s career swirled down the drain.
Now set to join his second team, Davenport gets a clean slate in a new division with a solid supporting cast around him. This offseason saw the Vikings resort to French Revolution-measures to get under the cap; having finally done so, the franchise can look forward with more hope for 2023 and beyond.
Considered a playoff pretender for most of the 2022 season, the Vikings want to make sure they’re the real deal this time. Davenport, too, will want to prove his worth on his one-year deal and unlock his dormant potential on his new home.
