Vikings Announce Initial 53-Man Roster
BJ Reidell
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The Minnesota Vikings announced their initial 53-man roster on Saturday afternoon, surprising fans with a handful of unforeseen moves in the process. General manager Rick Spielman has been busy, first trading a seventh-round pick for cornerback Tramaine Brock before making a multitude of difficult decisions regarding the team’s active roster.
There are still moves to be made and other minor details to be worked out, but the vast majority of the Vikings’ Week 1 depth chart is largely complete — football season has arrived.
| Position | 1st Team | 2nd Team | 3rd Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterback | Sam Bradford | Case Keenum | |
| Running Back | Dalvin Cook | Latavius Murray | Jerick McKinnon |
| Fullback | CJ Ham | ||
| Wide Receiver 1 | Stefon Diggs | Laquon Treadwell | Rodney Adams |
| Wide Receiver 2 | Adam Thielen | Jarius Wright | Stacy Coley |
| Tight End | Kyle Rudolph | David Morgan | Bucky Hodges |
| Left Tackle | Riley Reiff | Rashod Hill | |
| Left Guard | Nick Easton | Danny Isidora | |
| Center | Pat Elflein | ||
| Right Guard | Joe Berger | Jeremiah Sirles | |
| Right Tackle | Mike Remmers | Aviante Collins | |
| Left Defensive End | Danielle Hunter | Brian Robison | Tashawn Bower |
| Nose Tackle | Linval Joseph | Shamar Stephen | |
| 3-Technique | Tom Johnson | Jaleel Johnson | |
| Right Defensive End | Everson Griffen | Stephen Weatherly | |
| Weak-Side Linebacker | Emmanuel Lamur | Ben Gedeon | |
| Middle Linebacker | Eric Kendricks | Kentrell Brothers | |
| Strong-Side Linebacker | Anthony Barr | Eric Wilson | |
| Outside Cornerback 1 | Xavier Rhodes | Terence Newman | |
| Outside Cornerback 2 | Trae Waynes | Marcus Sherels | |
| Nickel Cornerback | Mackensie Alexander | Tramaine Brock | |
| Safety 1 | Harrison Smith | Anthony Harris | Antone Exum Jr. |
| Safety 2 | Andrew Sendejo | Jayron Kearse | |
| Kicker | Kai Forbath | ||
| Punter | Ryan Quigley |
Minnesota’s initial roster release isn’t without a few head-scratchers. The most glaring absence from the depth chart is 2016 big-money free-agent acquisition Alex Boone, who was waived by the team after reportedly declining to take a pay-cut:
On Alex Boone, I'm told that he was asked to take a paycut and declined. So the #Vikings let him go. Signed a 4-year, $27M deal last year
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) September 2, 2017
Nick Easton, who appeared in 11 games for the Vikings in 2016 after being acquired from the San Francisco 49ers for linebacker Gerald Hodges, will start in place of the former Ohio State Buckeye at left guard. Easton will be joined on the active roster by undrafted free-agent offensive tackle Aviante Collins, who showed the team enough during training camp and the preseason to become one of three undrafted free agents to be named to the initial 53-man roster.
2015 fourth-round pick TJ Clemmings, whose struggles at both left and right tackle have been well-documented was also released by the team. Joe Berger, Rashod Hill, Jeremiah Sirles and Easton are now the only four (of nine) Vikings offensive linemen that were with the team last season.
Day 3 selections Jaleel Johnson (4th), Ben Gedeon (4th), Rodney Adams (5th), Danny Isidora (5th), Bucky Hodges (6th) and Stacy Coley (7th) were all selected to the team’s 53-man roster, joining early-round picks Dalvin Cook (2nd) and Pat Elflein (3rd) on the active depth chart.
The aforementioned Collins and fellow undrafted rookies defensive end Tashawn Bower and linebacker Eric Wilson combined with Spielman’s 2017 draft class gives Minnesota a grand total of 11 rookies set to debut this season.
Other surprising cuts include linebacker Edmond Robinson, tight end Kyle Carter, offensive guard Willie Beavers and wide receiver Cayleb Jones, who each flashed NFL-caliber ability in various ways throughout the offseason.
Minnesota also announced formal designations for its injured and unable to perform players. Wide receiver Michael Floyd, as expected, was moved to the suspended list while the injured Teddy Bridgewater and Sharrif Floyd were placed on the physically unable to perform and non-football injury lists, respectively. Former Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Datone Jones was also placed on IR.
Quarterback Taylor Heinicke and wide receiver RJ Shelton were also waived with an injury designation.
PRACTICE SQUAD
- QB Kyle Sloter
- RB Bronson Hill
- WR Cayleb Jones
- OC Cornelius Edison
- OT Cedrick Lang
- TE Kyle Carter
- DE Ifeadi Odenigbo
- DT Dylan Bradley
- LB Elijah Lee
- CB Horace Richardson
The Vikings retained two of their seventh-round picks — Odenigbo and Lee — while also hanging on to strong preseason performers such as Jones and Carter.