Minnesota Vikings

Should they stay or go? 2017 Vikings free-agents: Captain Munnerlyn

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:00 p.m. ET

Fansided, Adam Patrick/FanSided via The Viking Age

Should the Minnesota Vikings bring back their veteran nickel cornerback or do they have enough young talent to let him walk this offseason?When Mike Zimmer was hired as the Minnesota Vikings’ head coach back in 2014, his first task was to fix the team’s awful pass defense. During the season before Zimmer came to town, the Vikings gave up the second most passing yards per game to opposing offenses.Minnesota and their new head coach knew the team pretty much needed to clean house in their defensive backfield during the 2014 offseason and bring in some veteran talent. One of those veteran players the Vikings brought in was cornerback Captain Munnerlyn.After spending his first five NFL seasons in Carolina with the Panthers, Minnesota was able to lure Munnerlyn over to their side and sign the corner to a three-year contract.Well here we are three years later and that contract has now ended. The Vikings must now decide whether or not they should try and keep the 28-year-old corner in town or shift into developing some of their younger defensive talent.Next: The Vikings should keep Munnerlyn in Minnesota

The Vikings should keep Munnerlyn in Minnesota:

After struggling a bit during his first season with the Vikings due to a bit of unnecessary freelancing, Munnerlyn has really become one of the contributing factors for the team’s dramatic improvement in their pass defense.

Minnesota has used him mainly in the role of their nickel corner and he has become one of the more reliable players on the team’s defense since he joined the team in 2014. Munnerlyn has only missed one game during his three years spent with the Vikings.

Off the field and in the locker room, he has developed into one of Minnesota’s top leaders. His time and experience in the NFL is something that has been helpful for the Vikings’ young players on defense and his presence could prove to be crucial in continuing the progression of those in need of some fine tuning over the next few years.

It is time for the Vikings to let Munnerlyn walk:

While the cornerback has been reliable for Minnesota as far as not missing time during the season, some of the opposing wide receivers that have had the most success against the Vikings in the past few years have been those who were being covered by Munnerlyn.

His size at 5’9 is a bit on the smaller side and Zimmer has not been shy about his dislike for corners who measure on the shorter side of the spectrum. In a league where receivers seem to only be getting bigger and bigger as each year goes by, keeping Munnerlyn on the roster could end up developing into a big weakness for Minnesota on defense.

The Vikings also have some young talent waiting in the wings to take over Munnerlyn’s spot on the roster. Minnesota drafted cornerback Mackensie Alexander in the second round last year and the team may decide to just throw him in the fire and learn on the field instead of keeping Munnerlyn around for another two or three years.

What should the Vikings do?:

Minnesota’s best option may be to try and keep Munnerlyn with the team for at least another two seasons. The only problem may be convincing the corner to sign a contract with this type of length.

Being that he is still under 30-years-old, Munnerlyn may want to take a deal with another team who can afford to sign him to a three or four-year contract. He has a future to think about too and it may be best for himself and his family to sign a deal that gives him a better shot and playing well into his 30s.

Despite Munnerlyn not being one of the top slot-corners in the league right now, the Vikings cannot afford to lose his leadership on defense right now. This would be especially true if Terence Newman is not part of the team for next season as well.

Minnesota could always bring in another veteran cornerback to take over for Munnerlyn, but the team may just be better off sticking with someone who they are very familiar with until their younger players can step in and take over.