The battle of balancing the decision of keeping Anthony Barr on an expensive contract or releasing him to the ire of Mike Zimmer has found a win-win solution.

Barr has been a member of the Vikings since he was drafted by the team in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He was Coach Zimmer's first pick as a head coach, and the two have had a special relationship throughout Barr's career.

That relationship was strong enough that back in March of 2019, Barr was on the verge of signing a deal with the New York Jets. He backed out at the last moment to return to the Vikings on a five-year contract worth more than $67 million.

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Entering the 2021 season, Barr would be responsible for a cap hit that was sitting north of $12 million. With the NFL salary cap lowered for 2021, and coming off a season in which Barr was injured, the Vikings were left with a decision to either find a way to restructure Barr's contract or let Zimmer's guy go.

They found a win-win solution.

Barr and the Vikings have agreed on a contract restructure that lowers his cap hit by $2.9 million, but it makes Barr a free agent after the upcoming 2021 season according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.

Barr will now have the opportunity to get back on the field in 2021 in a "prove it" year that could potentially pay off even more one year from now, while the Vikings have squeezed a little more cap room to potentially help bolster the roster.

On the contrary, if Barr is riddled with injuries or underperforms in 2021, the Vikings would be able to move on from Barr next offseason without a penalty against the salary cap.

Minnesota now sits with about $11 million in salary cap room according to Spotrac.

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