Antoine Winfield Jr. Says He Talked to Patriots, Chiefs Ahead of 2020 NFL Draft

The Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans have each reached out to Antoine Winfield Jr. ahead of the 2020 NFL draft, the former Minnesota Gophers safety told ProFootballTalk's PFT PM podcast on Friday.

Winfield was ranked by Bleacher Report's Matt Miller as the 29th-best overall prospect and second-best safety in the 2020 NFL draft class. The 5'9", 203-pounder was listed as Miller's "most versatile" safety but also stood out as an "injury wild card."

Winfield was limited to four games in both 2017 and '18. He dealt with a lingering hamstring injury in 2017 before suffering a season-ending foot injury on Sept. 23, 2018.

However, he enjoyed a breakout campaign last season with a career-high seven interceptions, three sacks and 83 tackles (58 solo) across 12 games for 11-2 Minnesota.

He continued to improve his draft stock at February's scouting combine:

The Vikings' interest in notable because Antoine Winfield Sr. finished his career in Minnesota, playing for the Vikings from 2004 to 2012.

"He's a really instinctive player," NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah, who previously served as a scout for three different NFL teams, told ESPN's Kevin Seifert earlier this month. "I love watching him. But having been in those draft rooms, there's going to be some pushback when you say, 'OK, he's 5-9 and he's missed [most of] two seasons.' As a first-round pick, there will be teams that push back on that."

The Golden Gophers haven't had a first-round selection since 2006.

As for the other teams who have talked with Winfield, Chiefs All-Pro safety Tyrann Mathieu hopes the reigning champions are able to land him:

Winfield could immediately help the Chiefs in 2020 with 2019 second-round free safety Juan Thornhill still working his way back from a torn ACL suffered last December.