Vikings Linebacker Eric Wilson Signs Restricted Free Agent Tender

Wilson will officially be with the Vikings in 2020 and will look to keep his role as the third LB behind Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr.

Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson officially signed his one-year restricted free agent tender on Friday, the team announced. Wilson will make a non-guaranteed salary of $3.259 million in 2020.

LB @EWIL23 has officially signed his one-year restricted free agent tender. pic.twitter.com/44uFex4eB7

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) May 8, 2020

The Vikings placed a second-round tender on Wilson back on March 16th, the first day of the free agency legal tampering period. That meant that if another team made an offer for Wilson and the Vikings didn't match it, they would receive that team's second-round pick. Given that cost, placing the tender on Wilson all but guaranteed that he would be back in Minnesota. Now he has signed the deal and is officially a Viking for at least one more year. 

Despite a productive three-year career at the University of Cincinnati, Wilson didn't receive an invitation to the 2017 NFL Combine. He went undrafted and was scooped up by the Vikings as a college free agent. Wilson has played in all 48 games over the past three seasons, primarily as a key contributor on special teams.

Over the past two seasons, Wilson has also played over 300 snaps on defense as the Vikings' third linebacker in their base 4-3 formation. He has five sacks, five non-sack tackles for loss, and over 100 total tackles during that time. Wilson also has the athleticism to provide some ability in pass coverage.

The Vikings' most common defense is a nickel formation with Eric Kendricks, Anthony Barr, and a slot cornerback, which limits Wilson's snaps. He'll compete with fourth-round pick Troy Dye, XFL signee DeMarquis Gates, and returning players Ben Gedeon and Cameron Smith for playing time at linebacker. Out of that group, Wilson is the favorite to retain the third LB job.

Wilson will be an unrestricted free agent in 2021. Other notable Vikings who are currently set to be UFAs next offseason are Anthony Harris, Dalvin Cook, Ifeadi Odenigbo, Pat Elflein, Gedeon, Holton Hill, and Tajae Sharpe.

Join the conversation at InsideTheVikings by clicking the follow button in the upper right-hand corner of this page (mobile users, tap the bell icon), and follow @WillRagatz on Twitter.