In his prime, Antoine Winfield, who last played for the Vikings and in the NFL in 2012, was one of the NFL's better cornerbacks at covering shifty slot receivers. If he got beat, he usually wrapped them up and limited the damage. He was a good blitzer and excellent run defender, too.

Last season, though, the Vikings did not have a reliable defensive back who could consistently stick with slot receivers. Three Vikings played more than 50 snaps in the slot, according to Pro Football Focus. They were, in order of most snaps played, Josh Robinson (212), Robert Blanton (201) and Marcus Sherels (119). Sherels and Robinson allowed the most yards per coverage snap among slot defenders, according to Pro Football Focus. Blanton was the best of that bunch, but quarterbacks still had a 121.0 passer rating when targeting him while he covered slot receivers.

Enter Captain Munnerlyn, who was solid when operating in the slot for the Carolina Panthers.

While it wasn't exactly Munnerlyn Island, he allowed just 1.09 yards per snap in coverage the past two years, a number that would rank among the top 12 qualifying corners in 2013, per PFF. He also surrendered just one reception for every nine coverage snaps, which was respectable. He was beaten for just one touchdown in 803 snaps in the slot while picking off a pair of passes.

"When I'm on the field, I'm the big difference. I can make a whole lot of plays in this defense," Munnerlyn, who with 3.5 sacks last season was also an effective blitzer, said Tuesday at Winter Park. "Start outside and then slide in to play the nickel back. That's what I'm going to do. Start outside and slide into the nickel back. Make plays. Bring the physical toughness to this secondary and go out there and get my hands on some balls and take them to the house."

Munnerlyn has seven career interceptions. He returned five of those picks for a touchdown.

While Munnerlyn again acknowledged that he would start on the outside and move inside in sub packages, he said he isn't sure which sideline he will defend in the base defense. Xavier Rhodes usually lined up as the left cornerback as a rookie. Munnerlyn was on the left a lot, too.

"We haven't talked about what side. Doesn't matter," said Munnerlyn, who signed a three-year, $15 million contract last month. "I played both in Carolina before. So it doesn't matter."

And given how often offenses use three or more wide receivers -- it was on more than half of the snaps across the NFL in 2013 -- Munnerlyn will be lining up in the slot a lot of the time anyway.