2016 NFL offseason: Minnesota Vikings needs

Terence Newman, Cornerback

Terence Newman’s career can be broken down into two different stages. There’s the Mike Zimmer stage and the without Mike Zimmer stage. Whenever he works with Zimmer, he looks to be well worth the fifth-overall pick the Dallas Cowboys spent on him back in 2003. Without Zimmer, he has been exposed and sometimes played out of position.

The two were together for a few years in Dallas as Zimmer was the defensive coordinator, and after the defensive coach left the team, Newman became the target of the fan’s anger. After being torched all season in 2011, the ‘Boys let Newman go and he wound up working with Zimmer again with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Again he looked to be a solid starter for the Bengals during his stint there. In 2015 he joined Zimmer yet again in Minnesota. Now set to be 38 years old when the season begins, the Vikings may decide to move on from the stop-gap starter, or Newman may decide to call it a career.

A solid pick up in 2015 for the Vikings, Newman recorded 62 tackles and three interceptions while starting all 16 games. If he does return for another year, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Zimmer continue to put Newman in a position to succeed. If Newman does decide to retire, it would be the end of a very stout career, and it would also be fitting that he finished with the same guy he started with back in 2003.

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