Heading into the 2018 offseason, the Minnesota Vikings knew they had a group of talented young players with their contracts nearing the end. Anthony Barr, Danielle Hunter, Eric Kendricks, and Stefon Diggs were all scheduled to become free-agents in 2019.
In a bit of a surprise move, Kendricks was the first of the four players to agree to a new deal with the Vikings this year. Minnesota gave the young linebacker a five-year contract extension worth $50 million.
When the terms of the deal were first released, there were some who wondered why the Vikings decided to extend Kendricks before Barr, Diggs, or Hunter.