NFL Rumors: Denver Broncos interest in Everson Griffen caused Vikings to pay more
By Josh Hill

The Minnesota Vikings raised a lot of eyebrows when they handed defensive end Everson Griffen a fat contract with a lot of dollars. We are now finding out why the Vikings gave Griffen such a big contract as the Denver Broncos apparently had interest in him as well.
According to Alex Marvez from FOXSports, the Broncos were offering Griffen nearly $9 million a year which prompted the Vikings to sweeten their deal.
.@Broncos were dangling deal averaging $9M a year. That forced @Vikings to sweeten offer to keep Griffen & caused DEN to look elsewhere
— Alex Marvez (@alexmarvez) March 12, 2014
The Broncos need for a defensive end was filled when they signed DaMarcus Ware on Wednesday, but an interesting footnote to that story is they drove the price up on a guy that hasn’t been a full season starter in his career yet.
Minnesota has a head coach who likes his defensive lineman, so they may end up getting value for Griffen but if they don’t, they know who to thank.