Cornerback Bashaud Breeland was on the free agent market for a while, finally inking a one-year deal worth up to $4MM with the Vikings earlier this month.
One reason for his delayed signing may have been that he underwent shoulder surgery shortly after playing in the Super Bowl with the Chiefs, the veteran corner revealed earlier this week, via Andrew Kramer of the Star Tribune. Kramer notes Breeland still remains sidelined, and although the Clemson product said he’s “on track,” he also said “doctors tell me when I’m ready to get on the field.” It sounds like he should be ready for the start of the season but will end up missing a good amount of practice time with his new team.
Interestingly, Breeland also said his original plan was to return to the Chiefs for a third season. Breeland said his “heart was sold” on returning to Kansas City, but a couple weeks after his visit to the Vikings’ facility Minnesota came in with a financial offer he couldn’t pass up.
Originally a fourth-round pick of Washington in 2014, Breeland started 11 games for the Chiefs last year after serving a four-game suspension to start the season. He’s started both of the Chiefs’ recent Super Bowl appearances, winning Super Bowl LIV with the team.
The Bears also expressed interest in him last month. After having a very youthful group of corners that often struggled last year, Mike Zimmer made overhauling the position a priority this offseason. In addition to signing Breeland, the team traded away former first-rounder Mike Hughes and signed Patrick Peterson.
In his seven-year career, Breeland has made 88 starts and racked up 81 passes defended to go with 14 interceptions.
Breeland has certainly lost a step since his best years in Washington. Whether that’s due to foot injury that torpedo’d his Carolina signing years ago I don’t know, but Breeland opens himself up a lot to holding and P.I. calls in coverage against faster receivers. He has decent instincts and is physical at his position, but he gets beaten by speed too often to be a full time starter (especially outside) in my opinion.