Vikings UFA Profile: LB Anthony Barr
With the 2023 season in the books, Inside the Vikings will be taking a look at all 22 of Minnesota's pending unrestricted free agents over the next couple weeks. We'll examine their past and speculate about their future, particularly the likelihood that they could be re-signed by the Vikings this offseason. We'll start from the least important (Hakeem Adeniji) and work our way up to the big fish (Kirk Cousins).
Vikings UFA profile: LB Anthony Barr
- Age: 32
- 2023 stats: 4 games, 1 tackle, 1 FR
- 2023 contract AAV: $1.165 million
When Jordan Hicks landed on injured reserve in November, the Vikings needed someone who could help provide depth at linebacker right away. So they turned to an old friend in veteran Anthony Barr, who had been out of football all year. He played a total of 25 snaps during the first two games of Hicks' absence, recording a third-down tackle against the Broncos and a fumble recovery against the Bears. Then he didn't see the field again until Weeks 17 and 18.
All in all, Barr played just 48 snaps for the Vikings across four games. He earned a solid 70.6 PFF grade in that tiny sample size, but his return to Minnesota was an inconsequential one. What sticks out most is how odd it was to see him wearing his friend Eric Kendricks' old No. 54 after rocking 55 for all those years.
Barr, of course, spent the first eight seasons of his NFL career with the Vikings after becoming the first draft pick of the Mike Zimmer era. The UCLA product made four consecutive Pro Bowls from 2015-18, then saw his production slip a bit from 2019 onwards (he played just two games in '20 due to a torn pec). Barr spent the 2022 season making ten starts for the Cowboys.
It's possible that Barr, who turns 32 in March, calls it quits this offseason, considering he wasn't with a team all year last year until the Vikings came calling. It's also possible he enjoyed getting back out there and will try to land another opportunity somewhere in 2024. We'll see.
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