Bears DT Henry Melton is scheduled to visit the Vikings on Thurdsay.

If we added Melton, that would likely mark the end of the Kevin Williams era in Minnesota.

Melton is a “3-technique” meaning he’s a DT that traditionally lines up in the B-Gap (between G and T) on the guard’s outside shoulder. Kevin’s played the 3-tech for the bulk of his career (some NT last season) and Sharrif is also a 3-tech.

Melton’s played 5 NFL seasons, all with the Bears, after being a 4th round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.

He missed the 2009 season due to injury, but since then he’s compiled 85 tackles along with 15.5 sacks and was a Pro Bowler in 2012.

Melton played last season under the franchise tag ($8.45M) before tearing up his knee in Week 3.

Teams might be wary to give Henry a lucrative, long term deal coming off of injury, so I could see teams offering him 1-year “show me” deals for decent money. He can then take that deal, show he’s still an elite DT, and then make a big splash in free agency next off season.

Adding Melton on top of the Joseph signing would turn the Vikings DT position from a gas station hotdog to a Manny’s ribeye overnight.

Zimmer likes to rotate in a number of defensive linemen in different packages, so having Melton around on top of Sharrif, Joseph, and Chase Baker would be a helluva luxury.

Even if it is only for a year.

Also if Melton does sign here, he’s going to have to pick a different number. I think #69 might be out of circulation for a while…