Report: Vikings Sign AFL Standout Nick Truesdell

Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph enjoyed his most successful NFL season in 2016, but that hasn’t stopped the franchise from adding more weapons at the position. On Thursday, according to a report from USA Today’s Tom Pelissero, the Vikings are signing Nick Truesdell, a 27-year-old Arena Football League (AFL) standout who turned heads at the 2017 Pro Player Combine in Arizona.

As Pelissero writes, Truesdell’s journey to the NFL is “quite a story.” He’s been in and out of the league since 2013, spending time in professional camps and bouncing around the AFL before finally landing with the Vikings. Truesdell’s AFL career blossomed in Bemidji, Minnesota, where his play garnered the attention of numerous NFL scouts.

Contract details for the 6’6,” 250-pound tight end have not been released. The team made the move official this morning and also announced the signing of wide receiver Mitch Mathews and receiver-turned-cornerback Terrell Sinkfield.

Earlier in the week, NFL Draft Diamonds shared inside scoop on Truesdell’s awesome workout:

[quote_box_center]”I talked to several scouts who said Truesdell straight murdered the veteran combine. He ran a 4.47 at 6’6 and 252 pounds. The teams ran him through drills, and that was more than enough.  We are learning that by the time he went to the airport, over six teams had already called his agent and began offering contracts.

He received nine contract offers from the Oakland Raiders, New York Jets, Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles Rams, Atlanta Falcons, Indianapolis Colts, New York Giants and the Tennessee Titans.”[/quote_box_center]

Truesdell’s story is similar to that of Moritz Böhringer, who blew scouts away the last offseason and fell to the Vikings in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He didn’t play a snap for the team, but Böhringer’s athleticism is an enticing incentive to keep him on the roster. Truesdell may not start, or even stick with the team through training camp, but he gives the Vikings another potential “plus” athlete on offense lacking in explosive potential.


Sinkfield returns to the Vikings as a cornerback after spending the 2016 offseason on Minnesota’s depth chart as a receiver. Mathews, like Truesdell, is an impressive physical specimen; at 6’5″ and 222 pounds, he’s instantly Minnesota’s largest wide receiver.

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