The South African was the ultimate sweet-and-sour Vikings commodity in 2022, dependable when it mattered and inconsistent on the whole.
Vikings Have Real Humdinger Decision with Greg Joseph
Now, Joseph, 28, is a true-blue free agent and can sign with any NFL team in two weeks. Of course, the Vikings could snatch him back in a heartbeat and slap the starter label on him for 2023. And for many Vikings fans, the move will be cherished because, after all, Joseph was clutch and created oodles of Minnesota memories from September to January.
Nov 13, 2022; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Minnesota Vikings place kicker Greg Joseph (1) kicks a field goal during the first half against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports.
Joseph racked up five game-winning field goals — you read that right: five — a chief component in actionizing the Vikings NFL-record-setting 11-0 record in games decided by one score or less. Minnesota’s kicker won five football games for the team notoriously snakebitten by kicker-related tomfoolery.
How on earth could Vikings fans willingly say “no thanks” to a man who was as cold as ice [in a good way] when the game was on the line? In that vein, it would be utter madness to say sayonara to Joseph in 2023. Clutch kickers don’t grow on trees, especially shrubbery planted in Minnesota.
Dec 24, 2022; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings place kicker Greg Joseph (1) celebrates his game-winning field goal after the game against the New York Giants at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports.
Next time you’re out and about, ask a man or woman wearing Vikings gear about kickers, and the first words out of their mouths will be either Gary Anderson or Blair Walsh. We guarantee it. In 2022, the Vikings employed the anti-Anderson or anti-Walsh. They’d be nuts to offload Joseph, right?
Well, here’s the other nugget currently being mulled over by Vikings management — Joseph wasn’t very good outside of the fancy clutch kicks. It’s hard to believe, but it is true.
Consider this statistic:
Greg Joseph,
NFL Rankings,
in 2022:
Game-Winning Field Goals = 1st
FG Conv % = 28th
Extra Point Conv % = 31st
Dec 26, 2021; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings kicker Greg Joseph (1) looks on before the game against the Los Angeles Rams at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports.
Ranking 28th in field goals and 31st in extra-point conversions is terrible. It shouldn’t be tolerated for a team with Super Bowl aspirations. Had Joseph missed one or two of the aforementioned game-winners, the “Joseph debate” would be moot. Still, Joseph indeed connected flawlessly on five game-winners — without any hiccups — and that means something. A lot, in fact.
VikingsTerritory‘s Adam New proposed a two-pronged solution last week, asserting the team should ‘do both.’ That is — re-sign Joseph for cheap and push him to the limit this summer with competition.
New opined, “Like Jordan Berry, Greg Joseph is given a contract with minimal guaranteed money, and the Vikings bring in a rookie or young kicker to compete in training camp. If the young kicker proves to be capable — much like Ryan Wright last year — then he makes the roster and Joseph is cut, likely saving the Vikings some valuable money in the process. That can be used somewhere else on the roster.”
The Vikings have the precedent for it, mentioned by New as the punter twosome, Jordan Berry and Ryan Wright, last year. It might be where the team is headed.
Otherwise, if it’s just-Joseph all over again, fans will merely hope the generalized field-goal struggles, plus the extra-points pain, was a mirage — why praying Joseph’s clutch gene doesn’t vanish.
And in a nutshell, this a very “Vikings kicker” conundrum