Tyler Forness discusses why the Minnesota Vikings extending Andrew Van Ginkel won't adversely impact Dallas Turner.
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00:00The Minnesota Vikings handed out an extension to one of their own, and it could mean bad
00:04things for an emerging player?
00:07Or does it?
00:08Let's talk about it.
00:12The Minnesota Vikings had a great season in 2024.
00:16They finished 14-3 and nearly got the number one seed in the NFC.
00:21Ultimately, they lost their final two games to the Rams and the Lions, ending their season
00:26a little more earlier than they were hoping as they got on a really big roll to finish
00:32the year.
00:33Now, one of the key components to that was the free agency haul that the Minnesota Vikings
00:39had on the defensive side of the football, and that would have been Andrew Van Ginkle,
00:43Jonathan Gennard, and Blake Cashman.
00:47Well, the former of all of those, Van Ginkle, ended up getting an extension on Tuesday afternoon.
00:52One year, $23 million, with $22.4 of it guaranteed.
00:57Now, that is on top of the $10.78 million that he was due as a base salary this year.
01:02So essentially, the deal becomes a two-year, $33.78 million deal.
01:08Not too bad for a guy like Andrew Van Ginkle, right?
01:11Well, last year was a breakout year at 29 years old.
01:14He had been a really solid piece for the Miami Dolphins over the beginning of his career,
01:18but emerged as a full-time starter with Brian Flores, who drafted Andrew Van Ginkle when
01:24he was in Miami.
01:25Before coming to Minnesota, he had only 17 sacks, 11.5, with 18 tackles for loss, and
01:32was a second-team All-Pro.
01:34Heck, Jonathan Gennard was a better player overall than him, but Van Ginkle got the flash and got
01:40that Pro Bowl nod.
01:41Well, both of them ended up starting in the Pro Bowl games.
01:43But any time that there's something with an edge rusher that's not named Dallas Turner,
01:49it's like, oh, do they not believe in Dallas Turner?
01:54Relax.
01:55It's okay.
01:57Dallas Turner is going to be completely fine.
01:59Yes, he only played 312 snaps last year.
02:02Yes, that does not matter.
02:04And here's why I say that.
02:06Turner is a very good football player.
02:08He's an emerging star at edge rusher.
02:10And one of the things that makes him so good is the explosiveness.
02:14But we have to remember, he did not have the play strength to be successful on a down-to-down
02:19basis in the NFL coming out of Alabama.
02:21He was also only 21 years old.
02:24Once you get that play strength, once you build that up, he's going to be just fine.
02:29Plus, they didn't bring back Jihad Ward or Pat Jones.
02:33And they didn't sign anybody at edge rusher outside of UDFAs.
02:36Turner is going to get a significant increase in the snaps that he plays.
02:42And because of that, I don't really think we have to worry at all.
02:45Even if Turner only plays 600 snaps, that's still going to be around 60% of what the Vikings
02:52have on defense.
02:53And you know what?
02:54That's going to be okay.
02:56Ryan Flores is going to find a way to use and maximize him.
02:59And when you have guys like Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave being added to this front,
03:03they're going to take up a lot of snaps too.
03:07This is going to be a unit that's going to be a unit.
03:10And you're going to see a lot more rotation than you did last year.
03:13Turner's going to be just fine.
03:15As for Van Ginkle, he gets a much-needed raise.
03:18And it's very, very well-deserved.
03:21Plus, with the four void years at the end of the contract, it's going to be spread out.
03:26So if he continues to play well, you can just keep giving him one-year extensions.
03:31I'm Tyler Fornes with A to Z Sports.
03:34Skull Vikings.