One NFL team contacted Marquette King just minutes after Raiders shockingly cut him - CBSSports.com

The Raiders might not want Marquette King, but there's plenty of NFL teams out there who do. One of those teams is the Minnesota Vikings, who didn't waste any time contacting King after the punter was surprising released by the Raiders on Friday. 

According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Vikings reached out to King just minutes after he was released by the Raiders. To give you an idea of how quickly things happened, let's take a look at the timeline of events. 

First, the Raiders announced at 4:21 p.m. ET that King had been cut. 

By 5:09 p.m. ET, the Vikings had already shown interest, which means, in a period of 48 minutes, King got cut, the Vikings reached out and then word got to the Pioneer Press that Minnesota was interested. Moral of the story here: Life comes at you fast.   

The fact that the Vikings reached out isn't surprising at all. Teams almost never get a chance to sign an All-Pro player this late in free agency, but that's exactly what teams will have the chance to do with King. For the past five seasons, King has been one of the top punters in the NFL. 

In 2013, he led the league in yards per punt (48.9), which is highly impressive when you consider the fact that he was punting the whole time for a horrible Raiders team that went 4-12. King followed up his 2013 season with a 2014 showing where he led the NFL in total punt yards. 

So why did the Raiders cut him? It definitely wasn't a talent thing. 

In 2016, King was named a second-team All-Pro after finishing second in the NFL with a 48.6 yard punting average (King ranks fourth in NFL history with a career punting average of 46.8). The 29-year-old followed that up in 2017 by finishing third in the NFL in net yards (42.7), which is arguably the most important statistic for a punter. 

Based on his play over the past few years, if the Raiders didn't want him, it's actually somewhat shocking that they didn't try to trade King for a low draft pick. 

As things stand now, if you're an NFL punter, you probably shouldn't feel safe with your job. King is one of the best punters in the league and would likely be an upgrade for almost any team that chooses to sign him, including the Vikings. The Vikings' current punter is Ryan Quigley, but he doesn't really have any job security right now due to the fact that his entire pay for 2018 ($790,000) isn't guaranteed.  

As for King, it doesn't look like he's going to rush things. According to the Pioneer Press, the punter's plan is to sign with someone by the time the draft rolls around, which means the Marquette King sweepstakes will be going on for roughly four more weeks. 

While we're waiting for him to sign, let's sit back and enjoy the time that he picked up a flag and celebrated with it, which drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. 

A punter getting an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty? Maybe that's why Gruden cut him ... or maybe he read too much into this tweet that King sent out in January. 

Whatever the reason Gruden cut him, there's now a second-team All-Pro punter available in free agency. 

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