Mackensie Alexander and Jayron Kearse Depart as Teardown of Vikings Secondary Continues
The mass exodus of the Vikings secondary continued in earnest on Thursday morning, with free agents Mackensie Alexander and Jayron Kearse becoming the latest departures from Mike Zimmer's prized unit.
First, Kearse's widely-expected exit came to fruition as he signed a one-year, $2.75 million deal with the Lions. Then, not long after, news broke that Alexander was heading out the door too, signing a remarkably inexpensive one-year, $4 million deal with the Bengals.
Just like that, over half of the key contributors from the 2019 Vikings secondary are gone. Alexander and Kearse join Trae Waynes in finding new homes this offseason, and the recently-released Rhodes will join them soon (Update: Andrew Sendejo became the latest to depart on Friday). Suddenly only Mike Hughes, Harrison Smith, and Anthony Harris remain as core pieces in the defensive backfield.
If – when? – Harris is traded, the teardown will be complete.
When it comes to Alexander and Kearse, the Vikings may not have had much say in whether or not either returned. Both players had fractured relationships with the team for different reasons, and both seemed to desire a fresh start outside of Minnesota.
Alexander, the Vikings' primary slot corner for the last two seasons, was reportedly unhappy that he was one of just a couple starters who played in the meaningless Week 17 game against the Bears. He had already appeared on the injury report that week with a knee ailment and ended up aggravating it in that game. He wound up needing a minor surgery on his meniscus and missed both of the Vikings' playoff games.
The decision not to rest Alexander may have cost the Vikings a chance at retaining him. And that's no small matter, because the 26-year-old Alexander has shown the potential to be one of the league's best slot corners. The Vikings' second-round pick in 2016 had a breakout season in 2018 with ten passes defended, four sacks, and a strong 78.1 grade from Pro Football Focus. His production declined slightly last season as he dealt with a few injuries – he dislocated his elbow in Week 1 and missed two games – but he remains a versatile corner who can stick with receivers in man coverage and make tackles near the line of scrimmage.
Now Alexander is headed to Cincinnati, where he'll remain teammates with Waynes. Signing Alexander for just $4 million is a bargain for the Bengals. The Vikings, who recently committed $4 million per year to their fullback and $3 million per year to their punter, could've easily afforded that price for their slot corner, even given their salary cap situation. But if Alexander wanted out, he wanted out. He'll look to have a big year in 2020 and earn a big payday next offseason.
Despite Alexander's frustrations, it wasn't totally clear that he would be leaving the Vikings. The same can't be said about Kearse, Alexander's Clemson teammate who was taken five rounds later in 2016. Kearse made it very clear that he didn't want to return to Minnesota.
The relationship between Kearse and the Vikings had been damaged for some time; Kearse frequently made it known on Twitter that he didn't feel wanted or appreciated. His October 2019 arrest for DWI and firearm possession – which cost him his role as special teams captain – played a role in that, but there may have been other factors in play, as well.
On the field, Kearse showed a ton of potential. The seventh-round pick began his career as a standout special teams contributor, and got a chance to play in a backup safety role in 2018. His opportunities increased in 2019, but only slightly, as he played a career-high 271 snaps on defense. Kearse made the most of those chances. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound hybrid safety played in some "big nickel" packages for the Vikings, showing his ability to smother tight ends and wide receivers alike. He sealed the Week 10 win over the Cowboys by elevating and intercepting Dak Prescott's last-second Hail Mary, and one week later made play after play down the stretch to finish off the Broncos.
For the season, Kearse received an 89.0 grade from PFF. For context, that's right between Harris (91.1) and Smith (88.4), albeit in about 800 fewer snaps. Despite the talent being there, Kearse could never find a path to consistent playing time in Minnesota. Ironically, he probably could've had that opportunity for the first time in 2020, but the relationship between him and the team had soured to the point that it was obvious he wasn't coming back.
Instead, Kearse will get to play against the Vikings twice a year as a member of the Lions. I'd imagine those games will mean a little extra to him.
With Alexander and Kearse gone, all eyes turn to Harris. All the evidence seemed to suggest the Vikings would have to let him walk in free agency, which made it surprising when he was hit with the $11.4 million franchise tag on Monday. One day later, it was reported that the Vikings were still open to trading Harris. With Rhodes a virtual lock to head elsewhere, Harris is the only remaining member of the secondary whose future is up in the air at the moment.
The cupboard is pretty bare right now. At safety, the Vikings have Harrison Smith under contract for two more years and Harris is a question mark. That's it. At corner, where the Vikings have moved on from all three starters this offseason, only Mike Hughes and Holton Hill remain as potentially reliable contributors – and they have a grand total of nine games started between them. Then there's a jumble of unproven depth: Kris Boyd, Marcus Sayles, Nate Meadors, Mark Fields, Kemon Hall.
There's a lot of work to be done.
With the departures of Alexander and Kearse, the teardown of the Vikings secondary is almost complete. Now it's time to see what they do to build it back up.
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