4 free agents the Minnesota Vikings should happily let leave

1. CB Patrick Peterson

Peterson’s individual numbers were actually very good this season (five interceptions, 66 total tackles, 59.6 percent completion rate allowed, 79.6 passer rating allowed, 15 pass breakups). And he has made it clear he wants to re-sign.

But if a 32-year-old should not be your best cornerback, as evidenced by how awful the Vikings’ pass defense was this season, then a 33-year-old by the time next season starts should not be either. While it’s admirable he wasn’t willing to throw former Vikings defensive coordinator Ed Donatell under the bus for the defense’s ineptitude this season, this quote (via SI.com) from a recent episode of his “All Things Covered” podcast is enough to start a case to not re-sign Peterson.

"I was shocked to see that they moved on from Coach Ed,” said Peterson. “It’s just unfortunate that they had to make that change just after one year. Coach Ed is such a great human being, has a great connection with the players. I just love the way he communicates with his players.” I love his scheme. Just unfortunate that we didn’t perform better. Because it’s proven that the scheme works. The scheme is phenomenal,” said Peterson."

While the Vikings’ drop-off defensively over the course of the season correlated with an erosion of pass rush pressure, “phenomenal” is not on (or anywhere close to) the list of apt adjectives to describe Donatell’s scheme. When you get ripped apart by Daniel Jones and a fairly no-name cast of wide receivers in a playoff game, something isn’t working and it was only the last of many bad performances from the defense. It’s not all on Donatell, as the Vikings lack talent on defense 1-11 and beyond, but the scheme was a definite problem too.

Just two of Peterson’s five interceptions came from Week 11, with just three of his 15 pass breakups over that same stretch. The latter number points to not being close enough to receivers to make a play on the ball. Scheme assignment can have something to do with that at times, but it didn’t seem to be an issue early in the season. It was also arguably more profitable to throw away from him, but Duke Shelley did emerge a bit late in the season and Peterson was gettable.

The Vikings may want Peterson back just like he wants to be back. But old and set to decline has been too common a theme on this defense over the last few years. Part of the line that’s drawn this offseason should be not keeping guys around on that side of the ball based on their name more than their actual game.