Skip to main content

Vikings Notes: Anthony Barr DNP, Stephen Weatherly and Brian O'Neill Contract Details

Barr didn't practice on Thursday, putting his status for Sunday's opener into serious question.

Just three days are left until the Vikings' 2021 season finally begins.

Let's run through some quick news and notes from Thursday.

Injury report: Anthony Barr DNP, Tyler Conklin upgraded

There are two changes from the Vikings' first injury report of the season

Tight end Tyler Conklin (hamstring) was upgraded from limited participation on Wednesday to full participation so he'll be good to go for what could be a nearly every-down role against the Bengals as Minnesota's No. 1 tight end. Chris Herndon, while still learning the playbook, will likely also have a role, as will Brandon Dillon.

The second change is an unfortunate one. Linebacker Anthony Barr (knee) was the team's lone DNP on Thursday, which suggests he's unlikely to play on Sunday. "He was a little bit sore from what he did yesterday, so we’ll see tomorrow," Mike Zimmer said.

If Barr can't go, Nick Vigil would be in line to make the start against his old team, playing alongside Eric Kendricks. Blake Lynch and Troy Dye seem like the top candidates to get any snaps where the Vikings need a third linebacker, although they'll mostly be in nickel or dime packages against the Bengals, who used three or more receivers over 80 percent of the time in 2020.

Christian Darrisaw remained limited, but Zimmer said he didn't do much on Wednesday, adding that "it's going to be a long process" for his return to the field. That doesn't indicate much faith in Darrisaw playing in any of the next few games.

Stephen Weatherly took a pay cut

Here's an interesting financial note: Vikings DE Stephen Weatherly took a $500K pay cut to avoid being cut, according to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. He now has a cap hit of $2 million, with his base salary cut to $1.5 million to go along with a $500K signing bonus.

Weatherly lost a camp battle to D.J. Wonnum for the starting spot at defensive end opposite Danielle Hunter. Co-defensive coordinator and D-line coach Andre Patterson explained that Wonnum just made more plays and earned the job. Weatherly's contract was fairly large for a backup, so this move makes sense from the Vikings. 

However, Weatherly can earn back some additional money based on performance incentives. He'll get a $250K bonus if he has two sacks and can earn $1 million with eight sacks, per KSTP's Darren Wolfson. The former seems attainable since Weatherly should still be involved as a rotational player, but the latter would be very tough to reach unless he becomes a starter again at some point and has the best season of his career. Weatherly's career high in sacks is three.

Since he had no sacks last year, any incentives are considered NLTBE (not likely to be earned) and would thus count against the cap in 2022.

Complete Brian O'Neill contract details

The big news of the day on Wednesday was right tackle Brian O'Neill signing a five-year, $92.5 million contract extension. But as with any contract in the NFL, it's important to make note of how it's structured.

Here are the full details, via ProFootballTalk.

1. Signing bonus: $20 million. Of that amount, $3 million will be paid within 10 days, $13 million will be paid in 2022, and $4 million will be paid in 2023.

2. Roster bonus: $1.576 million, earned September 8.

3. 2021 base salary: $1.05 million, fully guaranteed.

4. 2022 base salary: $4.4 million, guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed one the third day of the 2022 league year.

5. 2023 base salary: $14.5 million, guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2023 league year.

6. 2024 base salary: $14.4 million, $7.7 million of which is guaranteed for injury at signing and $12 million of which becomes fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2024 league year.

7. 2025 base salary: $17.4 million.

8. 2026 base salary: $18.9 million.

The deal includes $100,00 workout bonuses and $500,000 per-game roster bonuses from 2022 through 2026. It also has $1 million escalators for 2022 through 2026 based on O’Neill being named a first-team All-Pro.

The total guarantee of $53,376,118 ranks third for right tackles, behind Ryan Ramczyk and Lane Johnson.

Realistically, this mean O'Neill will be a Viking for at least the next four seasons, barring some sort of blockbuster trade. The dead money involved in cutting O'Neill prior to 2025 would be too big for that to be a realistic option. But the contract is backloaded enough that the Vikings could move on in 2025, or give O'Neill another extension at that point if he's playing well.

Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Vikings news and analysis all season long. Also, follow me on Twitter and feel free to ask me any questions on there.