Everson Griffen Open to Vikings Return in 2021: 'If You Want It, Come Get It'

Defensive end Everson Griffen is eyeing a return to the NFL team that drafted him in 2010.

Griffen played the first 10 seasons of his career with the Minnesota Vikings before spending the 2020 campaign with the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions. He will be a free agent this offseason and suggested he is open to a return to Minnesota if the NFC North team is interested.

"You tell them, I said, 'If you want it, go get it,'" Griffen said, per Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. "You can put that. ... If you want it, come get it."

While Griffen is 33 years old and likely will not be as productive as he was in his prime if the Vikings do decide to bring him back, he was solid in 2020 with six sacks for the Cowboys and Lions.

During his time in Minnesota, he was a four-time Pro Bowler and one of the best pass-rushers in the league.

He tallied 74.5 sacks for the Vikings and reached double-digit sacks three times in a four-year stretch from 2014 through 2017. Minnesota reached the NFC Championship Game during the 2017 campaign when Griffen was at his best with 45 tackles and 13.0 sacks.

The Vikings could use some help in the pass-rushing department.

They finished the 2020 campaign with 23 sacks, which was more than only the Las Vegas Raiders, Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars and Cincinnati Bengals. Nobody on the entire roster had more than five sacks, meaning Griffen still would have led the team even at this stage of his career.

Griffen has recently retweeted messages from Vikings fans hoping for a reunion and even echoed the "if you want it, go get it" mantra with a picture of him shaking hands with head coach Mike Zimmer:

The stage seems set for a return.