Minnesota Vikings not expected to re-sign Jared Allen

The Minnesota Vikings have a new head coach, but he won’t have a very long honeymoon. Minnesota has some serious questions that need answering and a lot of those questions are on Mike Zimmer’s favorite side of the ball. After building a forceful defense in Cincinnati, Zimmer will have to decide what he wants to do with some of the Vikings expiring contracts, and that includes the contract of defensive end Jared Allen.

After trade rumors in the middle of the season seemed to signal an end to the Allen era in Minnesota, Ben Goessling from ESPN.com believes that the Vikings aren’t going to be bringing Allen back in 2014 and will instead let him leave in free agency.

"For Allen, though, a new destination seems likely unless he’s willing to come back on a significantly reduced deal. It’s likely the Vikings are looking at the end of an era with Allen."

There’s a chance that the two sides could meet somewhere in the middle and agree on a price that both parties like, but that’s not likely to happen. Allen is still a premiere pass rusher in a league where plenty of teams need a Jared Allen type player on their defensive line.

Rumors will now swirl about Allen heading down to Tampa Bay to play for Lovie Smith on a fierce Buccaneers defensive line, but the Vikings will first need to officially pass for that to happen.