Vikings Signing Bills DT Harrison Phillips to Three-Year, $19.5 Million Deal
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The Vikings are signing former Bills defensive tackle Harrison Phillips to a three-year, $19.5 million contract, as first reported by NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. For the third consecutive year, their first big move in free agency is to sign a standout run-stuffing DT to a multi-year deal.
It'll be interesting to see what the addition of Phillips means for the futures of the two DTs the Vikings signed over the last two years: Michael Pierce (2020) and Dalvin Tomlinson (2021). Will Minnesota keep all three? Or does this mean someone like Pierce will be a cap casualty?
Update: the Vikings are reportedly releasing Pierce.
Phillips was a 2018 third-round pick by the Bills out of Stanford. He played nearly 400 snaps in a rotational role as a rookie, seeing action in all 16 games. Phillips tore his ACL early in the 2019 season, then wasn't super effective across 12 games in 2020. But his 2021 season was his best yet, as played in 14 games (eight starts) and recorded 51 tackles, 21 pressures, 4 TFLs, and a sack. Phillips earned a 77.4 PFF grade on nearly 500 snaps.
Phillips, 26, is a good athlete and an excellent run defender. He's gotten better throughout his career and his best football might be ahead of him. Phillips is also a great leader in the community who was the Bills' Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee in 2021.
Still, the fit in Minnesota is interesting, given that the Vikings already have Pierce and Tomlinson, as well as younger players like Armon Watts and James Lynch. Again, we'll see if this means they're going to move on from Pierce or not. Moving to a 3-4 defense under Ed Donatell means the Vikings will need more overall snaps from their defensive line rotation.
But the Vikings signing a defensive tackle to a fairly large contract for a third year in a row is a bit of surprise, considering they have bigger needs like edge rusher, cornerback, and interior offensive line.
Let's see what new Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah does next.
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