Griffen won't play Week 4

Vikings HC Mike Zimmer said Tuesday that DE Everson Griffen will not travel with the team for Thursday night's game against the Rams, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. Griffen will instead stay behind to work through recent mental-health issues, which currently have him hospitalized. We'll see how long Griffen remains out. IDP owners should plan as though we'll miss Griffen for at least a few weeks. Stephen Weatherly stepped in to play 76% of the snaps in the loss to Buffalo, but we wouldn't use him against a much tougher Rams front.

The Vikings on Friday placed DE Everson Griffen on the non-football illness list. That followed an incident earlier in the week in which team mental-health professionals as well as local police were called to Griffen's home. That incident fortunately ended without harm to anyone, but Griffen is getting treatment. It's not the 1st mental-health-related episode of his career. Landing on the NFI list means Griffen will miss at least 3 games, which means you can drop him from IDP rosters. Minnesota is left with D.J. Wonnum, Patrick Jones II and Tashawn Bower on the active roster at DE. Kenny Willekes is also available on the practice squad after a stint on the COVID list.

Lions DE Everson Griffen has tested positive for COVID-19. Detroit placed him on the COVID list Saturday, meaning he'll miss at least Sunday's game against the Packers. There's no Lions D-lineman worth using in Griffen's place if you planned to have him in your IDP lineup. The Green Bay matchup set up poorly for him, anyway.

The Cowboys have agreed to trade DE Everson Griffen to the Lions. COVID testing and restrictions will keep him from being available to play against the Colts this Sunday, but Griffen upgrades the pass rush for a team that clearly considers itself a contender. He figures to grow his playing time, which has only cracked 60% once this season. DE Romeo Okwara will likely be the primary playing-time loser in Detroit. Back in Dallas, Aldon Smith has seen his playing time dip the past 2 weeks. There's a chance that rebounds, but Tyrone Crawford might be the more direct beneficiary on the playing time front. If that's the case, then there's no IDP impact. Crawford sports 5 total tackles and 1 QB hit (no sacks) to date.

The Cowboys have reached a deal with DE Everson Griffen, according to NFL Network. Griffen spent 2010-19 with the Vikings, the last 6 of those as a starter. Injury and off-field issues derailed his 2018. Griffen missed 5 games and finished with just 5.5 sacks. He rebounded in 2019, however, missing only a meaningless Week 17, notching 8 sacks and tallying 24 QB hits. That last number tied for 11th in the league. In Dallas, Griffen immediately looks like the favorite to start at right DE opposite Demarcus Lawrence. He'll likely be available at least into DL3 range in IDP drafts. Griffen presents upside beyond that.

Vikings DE Everson Griffin is expected to play Sunday night against he Saints, according to the team website. Griffin practiced in full all week after missing the past 5 games. It’s not yet clear how much he’ll play, and the matchup isn’t great for sack potential. So we’d try not to play Griffin in IDP lineups right away. The top-10 fantasy lineman is worth rostering in any league of decent depth and DL requirement, though.