Minnesota Vikings bring in an old friend to help them solve one of their biggest problems

In case you haven't been keeping up with the Minnesota Vikings: In terms of injuries, training camp and the preseason have not been kind to the franchise.

Most notably, rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy recently saw his season come to an early end after he tore his meniscus and was placed on IR. It's not all doom and gloom, however, as Sam Darnold was slated to be the starter for the majority of, if not all of, the 2024 season. Meaning, the Vikings aren't out of options, by any means, at signal-caller.

The Vikings suffered another season-ending injury on the first day of training camp, in the form of cornerback Mekhi Blackmon, who tore his ACL. The team has been looking for a viable replacement since, but has yet to find one.

That is, until the team signed former Defensive Player of the Year and five-time Pro Bowler Stephon Gilmore on Sunday.

Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, it's a one-year deal worth up to $10 million, of which $7 million is guaranteed. Per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the Carolina Panthers attempted to sign the All-Pro cornerback. Gilmore reunites with Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores after they worked together for two seasons in New England.

Gilmore should provide an immediate boost to the Vikings secondary and is already a favorite to start on the perimeter. The biggest factor in all this, though, is it allows the Vikings to stick with their plan of moving Byron Murphy Jr. inside in subpackages. They were unable to do that, last year, because of all the injuries to the secondary. It's a move that makes a lot of sense and would allow the defense to have its best three corners in Gilmore, Murphy Jr., and Shaq Griffin on the field for the majority of the time.

Gilmore last played for the Dallas Cowboys in 2023, where he started all 17 games and logged two interceptions, along with 13 pass breakups. For his career, he has logged 31 interceptions, two pick-sixes, 140 pass breakups, 1.0 sack, 540 total tackles, and eight tackles for loss over the span of 165 games. He was named Defensive Player of the Year in 2019 after recording a league-leading six interceptions and 20 pass breakups.