Rex Burkhead finds himself in a situation the former Husker might have wondered would ever happen when he first entered the NFL. There are quite a few teams that appear to be clamoring for the running back's services. When Burkhead first joined the league, he worked hard merely to find a landing spot, mostly playing special teams for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Now that Burkhead has shown the Bengals and the rest of the league what he can do, the question of where he can play more and where he should play have surfaced. The answer to those questions, now that the free agent period dust has settled a bit, appears to be the Minnesota Vikings.
The many options of Rex Burkhead
ESPN reported earlier this week the former Husker had talked to the New England Patriots about possibly joining the defending Super Bowl champions. It seems a good bet that Burkhead is tempted to join a team that just added Brandin Cooks and appears even better than a year ago. The problem there, of course, is there is no guarantee Burkhead would be the starter.
Burkhead has also been talked about as going to the Atlanta Falcons, the Super Bowl runner-up. Once again, the issue appears to be just how many carries he would get on a team that already has two runners carrying the rock. The Falcons' situation is eerily similar to the one he could still return to in the Bengals.
Cincy already has Giovani Bernard and Jeremi Hill under contract. Burkhead would clearly be the third stringer yet again there.
The Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers stand out for Rex Burkhead
There are two teams that could be the front runners for Burkhead's services, simply because their running back options are extremely limited at the moment.
While the Green Bay Packers have several options they could try, including bringing back Eddie Lacy, nothing has emerged as the "no-brainer" for the team. It's possible the former Nebraska football player could see quite a few more carries if he went to Green Bay.
The Minnesota Vikings could end up being the best fit fo all.
Burkhead could almost immediately emerge as the starter. As Husker Corner recently pointed out, with Adrian Peterson apparently on the way out, only Jerick McKinnon and Bishop Sankey remain on the active roster at running back. Both are serviceable backs but neither is good enough to beat out Rex Burkhead from the get-go. Now we just have to wait and see where he signs.
