{"id":82342,"date":"2025-05-27T09:41:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T09:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/82342\/"},"modified":"2025-05-27T09:41:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T09:41:11","slug":"vikings-advised-to-sign-a-veteran-defender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/82342\/","title":{"rendered":"Vikings Advised to Sign a Veteran Defender"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"Dec 17, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams safety John Johnson III (43) celebrates after intercepting a pass against the Washington Commanders in the second half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Minnesota\u2019s roster has undergone some significant changes this offseason, but the current product looks good on paper. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has closed most roster holes. Bringing in another reinforcement is still an option.<\/p>\n

Vikings Advised to Sign a Veteran Defender<\/p>\n

Consider another piece<\/a> to read about two guys from the 2024 Vikings who could still be re-signed for the upcoming season. <\/p>\n

The pool of unsigned athletes does offer some intriguing leftovers from free agency, and if the decision-makers aren\u2019t 100% confident in the players they have in place, they should pick up the phone and call one of the remaining players. One of those could be John Johnson III, a safety formerly of the Los Angeles Rams. <\/p>\n

Bleacher Report\u2019s Suggestion<\/p>\n

\"\"Green Bay Packers wide receiver Allen Lazard (13) runs after a catch against Los Angeles Rams free safety John Johnson (43) during their NFL divisional playoff game Saturday, January 16, 2021, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis.<\/p>\n

Bleacher Report\u2019s Moe Moton linked the purple franchise to the veteran defender. He compiled a list of one move every franchise should make, and for the Vikings, he suggested Johnson III\u2019s addition.<\/p>\n

Moton wrote<\/a>: \u201cAt safety, the Vikings have Harrison Smith and Josh Metellus in starting spots and not much behind them. Fourth-year veteran Theo Jackson and third-year pro Jay Ward have played 285 career defensive snaps\u00a0combined.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt that Cam Bynum\u2019s departure will hurt Brian Flores\u2019 unit, and they might be one man shy if Theo Jackson isn\u2019t as good as advertised.<\/p>\n

Moton continued: \u201cJohnson has experience at both safety positions, and he can also take on assignments in the slot. Last September, he suffered a hairline fracture in his scapula. Now healthy, the 29-year-old can fill multiple roles.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Johnson III\u2019s Career<\/p>\n

\"\"Jan 9, 2021; Seattle, Washington, USA; Los Angeles Rams safety John Johnson III (43) tackles Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) during the fourth quarter at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

Johnson III went to Boston College and was then a third-round pick of the Rams in 2017. In his rookie year, he started as a depth safety but entered the starting lineup later in the season, starting 11 of the 16 regular-season games and one more in the postseason.<\/p>\n

In year two, Johnson III was a full-time starter all season, including the Super Bowl loss against Flores\u2019 New England Patriots. A shoulder injury knocked him out of the 2019 season, and he only appeared in six games, but returned for the 2020 campaign.<\/p>\n

The Browns hired the defender in the 2021 offseason, signing him to a three-year deal for $33.75 million. Johnson III started for two seasons before the Browns moved on from him via release. In each of the last two years, the Rams re-hired their former draft pick. He signed cheap one-year deals each time. <\/p>\n

A hairline fracture in his scapula cost him the majority of the season, and he returned just in time to beat the Vikings in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

In eight seasons, Johnson III has played in 105 games and secured 11 interceptions, 562 tackles, and 13 tackles for loss. <\/p>\n

Safety Room<\/p>\n

\"vikings\"Sep 22, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Houston Texans wide receiver Steven Sims (82) is tackled by Minnesota Vikings safety Theo Jackson (26) during the second quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Vikings still have Harrison Smith and Joshua Metellus at safety. Without Bynum, however, the third guy is missing in Flores\u2019 excellent three-safety rotation. Theo Jackson was re-signed, but he has only been in backup roles throughout his career. The other alternative would be Jay Ward, a 2023 draftee who has been behind Jackson on the depth chart. <\/p>\n

Jackson received a three-year contract extension ahead of free agency and a nice little raise. He\u2019s always been a guy who earned some praise and, in his limited action, has been quite solid. <\/p>\n

It\u2019ll all come down to Jackson. If the Vikings think he\u2019s not ready, a guy like Johnson III is in play. He had some crossover with Kevin O\u2019Connell in Los Angeles and with Adofo-Mensah in Cleveland. Also, the Rams\u2019 defense was coordinated for a while by Wade Phillips, the father of Minnesota\u2019s OC, Wes. <\/p>\n

At 29 years old, Johnson III is a decent backup plan. <\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: Information from\u00a0PFF<\/a>,\u00a0Over The Cap<\/a>,\u00a0and\u00a0Sports Reference<\/a>\u00a0helped with this article.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dec 17, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams safety John Johnson III (43) celebrates after intercepting a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82343,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2073],"tags":[7,9618,233,259,2529,6,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-82342","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-john-johnson-iii","10":"tag-minnesota","11":"tag-minnesota-vikings","12":"tag-minnesotavikings","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114579144250624918","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}