It’s Sayonara for Kyle Sloter Yet Again
Dustin Baker
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Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyle Sloter continued his topsy-turvy football journey on Tuesday, released by the Jacksonville Jaguars when the team signed QB E.J. Perry.
The Jaguars said sayonara to Sloter after just 16 days with the franchise.
So, it’s back to the drawing board for Sloter, whose career resume is stuffed to the gills with career stops. To date, these are the NFL teams that have signed Sloter:
- Denver Broncos (2017)
- Minnesota Vikings (2017–2018)
- Arizona Cardinals (2019)
- Detroit Lions (2019)
- Chicago Bears (2020)
- Las Vegas Raiders (2021)
- Minnesota Vikings (2021)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (2022)
Sloter, 28, made headlines this spring and summer in the USFL, playing for the New Orleans Breakers and leading the club to the semifinal round of the playoffs. Named an All-USFL quarterback, Sloter was also an MVP candidate for much of the USFL’s regular season. His Breakers lost to the Birmingham Stallions in June, one game shy of the league championship.
Since 2017, Sloter has signed with the aforementioned seven NFL teams while never catching on as a QB2. So when he wound up in the USFL — and thrived — Vikings fans maintained an “of course he did” attitude because, to the naked eye, Sloter played tremendously with the team in exhibition games. Still, no general manager or head coach has ever allowed him to throw a pass in the regular season.
Undrafted from Northern Colorado five years ago, Sloter ended up with the neighboring Denver Broncos in 2017. With Denver, Sloter was sensational in the preseason — imagine that — but was ultimately released before the 2017 regular season started. Soon after, Sloter joined the Vikings, remaining on the roster for two years and returning briefly in 2021. As a preseason performer, Sloter owns an 11-touchdown to one interception split, which is why his cult following is so robust in Minnesota.
The next stop for Sloter? To be determined. He has the credibility to waltz back into the USFL next year. Otherwise, the NFL’s preseason is just getting underway, and Sloter could latch onto his eighth team by the end of the month. Sloter is ultra-familiar with practice squads, so filling that role in the 2022 season with eyes on another USFL ride in the spring makes sense.
Sloter threw for 127 yards and a touchdown last week at the Hall of Fame game when his Jaguars lost to the Las Vegas Raiders 27-11.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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