EAGAN Anthony Barr Jersey , Minn. ¡ª Terence Newman was among the many members of the Minnesota Vikings saddened by the release of 11-year veteran defensive end Brian Robison, one of the most difficult moves made during the weekend roster reduction.The departure of the team¡¯s longest-tenured player made Newman think even deeper about the passage of time and his place in the game. Soon after Robison was let go, then, Newman accepted an offer to serve as the assistant defensive backs coach and thus declare his retirement as a player.More Vikings coveragePhotos of the Week: 7/21/19 ¨C 7/27/19Rookie Bradbury is central figure to Vikings¡¯ overhauled offensive lineVikings depth at cornerback being tested, Hughes still not clearedPlayers to watch at Minnesota Vikings 2019 training campTop Tweets: Vikings WR Diggs makes push for All-NFL Style Team¡°Probably why I was so OK with doing what I did,¡± Newman said. ¡°It¡¯s tough, but I feel like having experienced so much stuff, met so many people, for me it¡¯s not a hard transition. Some people get depressed and they have a hard time leaving the game, but I¡¯ve loved this game since the day I played it.¡±Standing behind a podium on Monday at team headquarters to discuss his unexpected decision, Newman began to tear up. He paused, looking down with his hand pressed against his forehead.¡°It was my time, you know?¡± Newman said, after composing himself.Vikings coach Mike Zimmer presented the opportunity to Newman on Saturday, when NFL teams had to reach the 53-man limit for the regular season. Newman, who will turn 40 on Tuesday, said he could¡¯ve kept his spot on the roster if he preferred to keep playing. That would¡¯ve meant releasing a younger player.¡°At some point Mike Hughes Jersey , you have to be true to yourself and say, ¡®Hey, do I want to keep going forward, have a chance to maybe tear up your back or neck or whatever?'¡± Newman said. ¡°Some of the younger talent, obviously, you have to either say, ¡®I¡¯ll be selfish,¡¯ and maybe take the roster spot or get somebody else an opportunity to live their dream. So, it was pretty easy. Everybody¡¯s asking me if I¡¯m OK and all this. I¡¯m good. I¡¯m still in football. I still have an opportunity to chase a Super Bowl ring.¡±10<button class="view-gallery">View Gallery</button> Gallery:Top Tweets: This Vikings photo is just begging for a caption contestNewman signed with the Vikings in 2015, the third stop in his career. He played for Zimmer, then a defensive coordinator, with Dallas and Cincinnati too.¡°Helping out some of the younger guys, it¡¯s a form of coaching, I guess,¡± Newman said. ¡°And I think everybody just assumed that I would do it, so I would like to give it a shot.¡±The fifth overall pick in the 2003 draft was then asked how he anticipated his life outside of football being different.¡°If the hours are anything like yesterday, it¡¯s going to change drastically Armon Watts Minnesota Vikings Jerseys ,¡± said Newman, whose 42 interceptions were the most among active players following the retirement this spring of DeAngelo Hall. ¡°I¡¯m not going to have many friends outside of this building, that¡¯s for sure.¡±Newman¡¯s shift to the sideline puts Mackensie Alexander (age 24) in the nickel cornerback spot and Mike Hughes (age 21) as the next in line. Robison¡¯s release paved the way for Stephen Weatherly (age 24) and Tashawn Bower (age 23) to become the primary backups to Everson Griffen and Danielle Hunter.¡°The guy had an awesome career and he played at a high level,¡± Griffen said. ¡°Do I wish he was here? Of course. I miss my brother. In this league, in this business, the train¡¯s going to keep on moving.¡±Even the punter, Ryan Quigley, was jettisoned on Sunday after Matt Wile was available on waivers after being let go by Pittsburgh, with the Vikings picking a 26-year-old over a 28-year-old. Wile punted for Arizona and Atlanta in 2016, but was not on a roster in 2017.¡°We just didn¡¯t feel like we were punting very well in the preseason,¡± Zimmer said. EAGAN, Minn. ¡ª Anthony Barr slept for a mere two hours on Monday night, awakened at 3 a.m. by the angst of his decision about which team to pick in free agency.More Vikings coverageDuty might call for Vikings rookie long snapper CuttingRookie minicamp Q&A with Vikings head coach Mike ZimmerVikings sign nine members of 2019 draft classTop Tweets: Minnesota teams have fun with ¡®Game of Thrones¡¯Vikings decline fifth-year option for WR Laquon TreadwellHis verbal commitment to join the New York Jets triggered immediate unease about leaving the Minnesota Vikings.¡°I was up all morning just looking at my ceiling, just looking for a sign, talking to everybody, just trying to figure something out,¡± Barr said.Fortunately for Barr and his conscience Minnesota Vikings Jerseys 2019 , the Vikings didn¡¯t abandon their desire to retain the four-time Pro Bowl linebacker. They presented a contract offer that was more than sufficient to stay for, even if he¡¯d be turning down a richer deal with the Jets. The league¡¯s two-day negotiating window before contracts can be signed worked out rather well for him.Barr got a five-year deal valued at $67.5 million, with $33 million in guaranteed money. The Vikings held a news conference for him and new defensive tackle Shamar Stephen on Thursday afternoon.¡°This is where I wanted to be. This is my home. I¡¯m embedded in the community. I do a lot of off-the-field work here. I love my teammates. I love this locker room. The culture we¡¯ve developed over the last five years, it¡¯s been awesome. The bonds I¡¯ve made with my friends, my teammates and my coaches are unbreakable, and it just felt right,¡± Barr said. ¡°This is where my heart was.¡±Barr, who will turn 27 next week, was the first draft pick, ninth overall in 2014, the Vikings made under coach Mike Zimmer. Though the hard-nosed boss has occasionally prodded Barr to play with more relentlessness, Zimmer has become a big fan of the 6-foot-5, 255-pound player who has manned the strong side linebacker spot on one of the NFL¡¯s best defenses over the last five seasons.¡°No team we ever play is going to say, ¡®Oh, we¡¯re not going to worry about Anthony Barr,'¡± Zimmer said.Zimmer played a part in the persuasion process. General manager Rick Spielman held onto some hope.¡°You might as well keep swinging until you¡¯re knocked out,¡± Spielman said.Barr figured his first foray into free agency would be fun Armon Watts Jersey nfl draft , but he wound up feeling the opposite.¡°Monday was one of the worst days of my life, really,¡± he said.As soon as he told his agent, Brian Murphy, he would take the offer from the Jets, Barr called his mother, Lori, and fessed up.¡°I¡¯m like, ¡®I think I made a mistake.¡¯ And she was like, ¡®Well, you¡¯ve got to fix it,¡¯ and I was like, ¡®All right,'¡± Barr said.Murphy handled the business part, but Barr was left the bigger mess: his emotions.¡°I was crying, laughing, sweating. The whole day was just crazy Replica Armon Watts Jersey ,¡± he said.The enticement of the Jets wasn¡¯t just more money. There was an allure too, Barr said, of being part of a rebuild.¡°All the respect to the Jets organization, their coaching staff, but it¡¯s just not what I really wanted,¡± he said. ¡°I think initially I kind of jumped the gun, even though it was like a full day worth of conversation. I think I was trying to convince myself of something.¡±Now Barr will be back with a coach he said he¡¯d ¡°go to war for¡± and an organization from the top down of people he can trust.¡°We do have a really good team,¡± Barr said. ¡°Money¡¯s great, but you can¡¯t be miserable coming in to work every day.¡±The Vikings took one of the smallest amounts of salary cap space in the league into 2019, with about $5 million at the start of the week before the roster moves began. The Vikings sought a pay reduction from defensive end Everson Griffen, Spielman said, who agreed to a restructured deal that gave the team roughly $4 million in more room. Griffen, who has the same agent as Barr, could have been cut had he resisted the request.¡°It was down to the wire,¡± Spielman said.