The punter is back
In just a few hours, the free agent signing frenzy will get underway in the National Football League with the start of the “legal tampering” period, which runs from 11:00 AM Central on Monday until the start of the new league year at 3:00 PM Central on Wednesday. Before that, however, the Minnesota Vikings have secured one of their primary pieces on special teams.
The Vikings have agreed to a one-year contract with punter Ryan Wright. It’s a $1.75 million deal, but Wright could earn up to $2 million with incentives.
Wright has been the punter for the entirety of the Kevin O’Connell era in Minnesota, serving in that capacity for all 51 regular season games and both playoff games during that stretch. Pro Football Focus had him as the 17th-ranked punter in the NFL last season, right around league average. He hasn’t quite recaptured the performance he had in his rookie season, but he hasn’t been completely awful, either.
This means that the Vikings’ three primary specialists are back, with Wright joining Pro Bowl long snapper Andrew DePaola and a fully healthy Will Reichard. Wright has also been the holder for the Vikings’ field goal and extra point units during his time in Minnesota, so the Vikings will retain that continuity as well.
It’s not earth-shattering news or anything, but news it is. At least it gives us something to chew on while we’re waiting for players around the league to be legally tampered with (as though there hasn’t been tampering taking place already).
