Dallas Cowboys Sign Former Vikings, UCLA Linebacker Anthony Barr
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Anthony Barr has spent his entire career wearing either blue and gold or purple and gold, but now he's set to sport the iconic blue and white combo for the upcoming NFL season.
The former UCLA football linebacker signed a one-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday, NFL Network's Mike Garafolo was first to report. Barr played for the Minnesota Vikings from 2014 to 2021, but had been a free agent without a home since March.
Multiple reports had the Denver Broncos and Washington Commanders pegged as the other teams interested in adding Barr this summer. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport noted, however, that former Vikings defensive coordinator George Edwards joining the Cowboys as an assistant coach helped draw Barr to Dallas over his other suitors.
Barr will fit into the depth chart alongside former Pro Bowler Leighton Vander Esch and 2021 Defensive Rookie of the Year Micah Parsons.
Over the past two seasons, Barr has missed a total of 20 games. The former Bruin suffered a season-ending torn pectoral in Week 2 of the 2020 campaign, and a lingering knee issue in 2021 limited him to 11 appearances.
Even in limited time, Barr managed to rack up 72 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, six quarterback hits, three interceptions, two fumble recoveries and five passes defended last season.
Barr had spent his entire professional career with the Vikings, as Minnesota selected him out of UCLA with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.
With the Bruins, Barr was a consensus All-American and two-time member of the All-Pac-12 First Team. Barr started off his collegiate career as a running back and receiver who didn't get much playing time, but a switch to linebacker when coach Jim Mora took over in 2012 shifted the course of his football future.
Barr recorded 149 tackles, 41.5 tackles for loss, 23.5 sacks, six forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries in 26 games across his junior and senior seasons in Westwood. Barr's instantly-iconic sack of USC quarterback Matt Barkley in 2012 helped the Bruins close out the crosstown victory in dominant fashion, etching his name into program history in the process.
Once he joined the Vikings the following spring, Barr immediately burst onto the scene as a high-level NFL linebacker. Barr made four consecutive Pro Bowls from 2015 to 2018, averaging 70 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks per season from 2014 to 2019.
Barr made $59.4 million over his eight seasons with the Vikings.
Injuries led to Barr's stint in Minnesota fizzling out, though, as did the firing of coach Mike Zimmer in January. Zimmer and Barr joined the Vikings the same offseason, and the team never finished with fewer than seven wins in any of their years together.
Barr will no longer suit up next to fellow former UCLA linebacker Eric Kendricks, either, as the latter is still under contract with the Vikings. Minnesota and Dallas will go head-to-head in Week 11, with the two sides scheduled to face off Nov. 20 in Minneapolis.
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