Inside The Vikings

Former Vikings LB Eric Kendricks to Return Home, Sign With Chargers

Kendricks announced he's signing with the Chargers after eight seasons in Minnesota.
Will Ragatz|
Former Vikings LB Eric Kendricks to Return Home, Sign With Chargers
Former Vikings LB Eric Kendricks to Return Home, Sign With Chargers

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Minnesota Vikings

Former Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks, who had spent his entire eight-year NFL career in Minnesota before being released last week, is returning home. Kendricks, a California native and former UCLA star, announced on Instagram that he's signing with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Details on the term and value of his contract have not yet been reported.

Kendricks grew up in the Fresno area of California, roughly four hours away from LA. He played college football at UCLA, winning the Butkus Award in 2014 at the top linebacker in the nation. Now, after eight seasons with the Vikings, the 2015 second-round pick is headed home.

Kendricks had a fantastic tenure with the Vikings, starting 113 regular season games and six playoff contests. He racked up over 900 tackles, 54 TFL, 15 sacks, nine interceptions, 51 passes defended, and three touchdowns. Kendricks and fellow UCLA product Anthony Barr were standouts at the second level of the Vikings' defense for most of Mike Zimmer's tenure, with Kendricks sticking around for a year under Kevin O'Connell in 2022. In 2019, Kendricks made his lone Pro Bowl and was named a first team All-Pro. 

Although the 31-year-old Kendricks undoubtedly has some good football left, the Vikings are going in a different direction this offseason. Releasing Kendricks created $9.5 million in salary cap space and clears the way for 2022 draft pick Brian Asamoah to step into the starting lineup in his second season. The Vikings are overhauling their roster, as they also released Adam Thielen last week — and more moves may be coming.

This is a nice landing spot for Kendricks. Not only is he returning to his home state, he's joining a rising team that made the playoffs last year in Brandon Staley's second season as head coach. The Chargers have a franchise quarterback in Justin Herbert and are adding Kendricks to a defense that features Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack, and Derwin James, among others.

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

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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