Getty Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr hinted at the uncertainty his future with the team holds in an Instagram post on Sunday.
What will be left of the Minnesota Vikings defense next season remains to be seen.
Six defensive players who have started in at least six games will see their contracts expire this offseason. And with the expectation that the architect of the defense in head coach Mike Zimmer will be leaving Minnesota, nobody is safe to return.
Four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Anthony Barr is well aware these could be his final days in purple and gold among those players on expiring contracts. Zimmer’s first draft pick as a head coach, Barr, the ninth overall selection in the 2014 draft, has been an integral part of Zimmer’s defense for years.
He made a social media post before Sunday’s season finale, hinting at the uncertainty ahead this offseason.
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‘One More Time’
Barr made his knowledge that Sunday could be his last game as a Vikings heard by posting a pre-game photo on Instagram with the caption “one more time.”
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Hasn’t been a great game today for Anthony Barr, who might be wearing a Vikings uniform for the final time. His IG story from this morning makes it seem like he knows this could be his last game as a Viking.
Amid a contract dispute with the Vikings last offseason, Zimmer “lobbied heavily behind the scenes” for Minnesota to reach an agreement that would bring Barr back this season, ESPN’s Courtney Cronin reported. Barr agreed to a restructured deal worth $12.4 million ($9.4 million guaranteed) that voided the final two years of his contract, allowing him to reach free agency this offseason.
“The Vikings have consistently made it clear they want to keep Barr in their defense. They still see him as a big matchup problem for offenses, and value his ability to run the huddle and make defensive adjustments before the snap,” Star Tribune reporter Ben Goessling tweeted March 14 after Barr and the Vikings struck a deal. “Always seemed like he would stay.”
Barr has shown his loyalty to the Vikings several times throughout his career. After verbally agreeing to a deal with the New York Jets in 2019, Barr reversed his decision and returned to the Vikings in a change of heart.
However, without Zimmer, Barr’s future with the team is uncertain.
OverTheCap’s Jason Fitzgerald appraised the soon-to-be 30-year-old linebacker, estimated him to garner a contract worth $5 million a year in free agency, per Pioneer Press reporter Chris Tomasson.
Barr led the Vikings with 11 tackles in Minnesota 31-17 victory over the Bears on Sunday and had a game-tilting sack in the third quarter before the Vikings mounted a 30-3 run to close the game. He struggled with a knee injury this season, playing in 10 games and tallying 61 tackles, 2.5 sacks and three interceptions.
Zimmer was choked up in his postgame press conference, lauding Barr for his presence both in and outside the locker room.
“Barr is a terrific person. He’s a really good person,” Zimmer said. He’s extremely smart. He’s a guy that I respect an awful lot.
Barr’s Change of Heart
In the 2019 offseason, Barr had told his agent at the time, Ryan Williams, to accept a deal with the Jets that would pay him an average of $15 million per year — a rate that priced the Vikings out of keeping the linebacker coming off his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl appearance.
Cronin detailed Barr’s dilemma once he verbally agreed to the deal:
Ryan Williams got back on the phone. He told the Jets his client was in and they were ready to get the deal done.
Williams had a three-way conference call with Barr and his mother Lori. In the background, Williams struck up the song made famous by Frank Sinatra, “Theme from New York, New York” to set the mood. This was supposed to be a celebration.
Instead, it felt like a funeral.
Barr was quiet on his end of the phone. There was no joy in his tone of voice.
Meanwhile, someone inside the Jets’ organization apparently leaked the news that Barr was leaving Minnesota, frustrating all three on the phone call.
Barr instantly felt regret for the decision he had just made.
“He said, ‘I feel like I just made the worst mistake of my life,’” Williams said.
Williams worked fast to untangle the agreement and give Minnesota a chance at a final offer. When the two sides agreed to a deal, Barr’s reaction was the polar opposite of his response to the Jets.
“I said, ‘Congrats, dude, you’re a Viking,'” Williams said, per Cronin. “And he literally screamed that this was the best day of his life. I said to him, ‘That’s the reaction I was hoping to get yesterday and now that I have it, I actually have to call the other teams and let them know your decision.'”
Barr still has ties to Minnesota beyond Zimmer. It’s been his home for eight years and his college teammate and longtime friend Eric Kendricks will be back next season.
Barr has chosen the Vikings over money before, and in the twilight of his career, he could do it again this offseason.
“I was trying to convince myself of something I knew that in my heart didn’t feel right, and I think if you follow the heart, I can live with the results,” Barr said, following his return to Minnesota in 2019.