Vikings sign Will Fries to five-year deal

Vikings sign Will Fries to five-year deal

What a start to the day it’s been for the Minnesota Vikings! None of us have even sat down for breakfast yet!

After signing defensive lineman Jonathan Allen to a three-year deal, the Vikings have nabbed guard Will Fries, one of the top interior linemen entering free agency, to a massive five-year, $88 million deal, ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler was among the first to report.

The amount of money guaranteed to Fries has not been disclosed at the time of this publishing.

According to the Purple Post’s Tanner Weber, the Vikings beat out the Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals for Fries.

He was limited to just five games last season due to a season-ending tibia injury suffered in Week 5; he was waived in early October as a result. Nevertheless, Fries showcased himself both as a very capable run blocker and pass blocker over the last two seasons.

The former second-round pick will be entering his age-27 season as the presumptive starting right guard in between Brian O’Neill and former Colt teammate Ryan Kelly, who signed a two-year deal with Minnesota on Monday. The Vikings’ biggest weakness was their lack of push on the interior–Kelly and Fries addressed that need immediately.

Sure, $88 million is a lot of money for a guard. His $88 million is the third-highest total amount–trailing only Chris Lindstrom and Robert Hunt–for players at his respective position, according to Spotrac. Though his $17.6 million AAV is the 10th-highest, sandwiched between Quinn Meinerz and Elgton Jenkins. For a player on the rise, that’s not bad value.

Sometimes, you have to overpay to get your guy. What do you think about this move? Let us know in the comments!

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This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.

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