NFL free agency 2021: Ex-Giant Dalvin Tomlinson agrees to terms with Vikings on multi-year deal

There's a new defensive lineman heading to Minnesota

This one stings mightily if you're the New York Giants, a team that can't afford to begin losing talent on the defensive side of the ball as they try to improve in 2021. They'll have to try and achieve that mission without Dalvin Tomlinson, though, a veteran interior defensive lineman who was set to draw a lot of interest once the doors to legal tampering flew open. As so it was, that at the outset of free agency, Tomlinson reportedly agreed to terms with the Minnesota Vikings, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, saying goodbye to the Giants and heading to the NFC North.

Tomlinson's deal with the Vikings is for two years and worth up to $22 million, with $20 million of it fully guaranteed. He'll reportedly earn $16 million in Year 1, and have an opportunity to immediately negotiate a new deal one year from now -- for 2023 and beyond -- be it in Minnesota or elsewhere. 

The 29-year-old finally lands in the NFC North, after the Green Bay Packers attempted to trade for him twice in 2020 but failed to convince the Giants to let him go on both occasions. Those very Packers must now scheme for Tomlinson going forward.

A former second-round pick of the Giants in 2017, Tomlinson burst onto the NFL scene en route to earning PFWA All-Rookie Team honors and he while his pro career hasn't been racked with lots of wins due to the Giants' shortcomings as a whole, he knows a little something about how to help a team land victories -- the former Alabama standout having left the collegiate ranks with two national championships and four SEC championships under his belt. Tomlinson is also extremely durable, having not missed a single start at the NFL level, and that alone will play very well in his new home.