Ex-Viking Joins 4th Team in 71 Days
Dustin Baker
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The Arizona Cardinals have created a sport of plucking former Minnesota Vikings players this year, and Wednesday followed the same trend.
One day after dismissal from the New Orleans Saints, offensive guard Wyatt Davis joined the Cardinals, an addition to the team’s active roster.
The Vikings drafted Davis in the 3rd Round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Minnesota waived Davis on the final day of roster trimdowns in August, and the ex-Buckeye has joined three other teams in the last 71 days. First, Davis trekked to the New York Giants but was released. Then, Davis landed with the Saints — for most of the time 71-day timeframe — but was let go there, too. And now Davis will try on Kyler Murray and the Carindals for size.
Offensive guard Will Hernandez was placed on injured reserve this week in Arizona, prompting the Davis move for depth.
Minnesota had high hopes — well, at least Rick Spielman did — for Davis after the 2021 draft. He was a proposed solution to Minnesota’s unsolvable disease at right guard. Drafted in the 3rd Round, Davis could’ve “gone either way” per his performance at Ohio State. And “either way” has been misdirectional for the 23-year-old, evidenced by his fourth team in less than three months.
Davis initially arrived in Minnesota via Spielman’s draft-night trade with the New York Jets. Spielman sent the pick that ultimately netted Alijah Vera-Tucker to the Jets for Christian Darrisaw, Kellen Mond, and Davis to the Vikings. The Darrisaw part of the transaction worked out wonderfully for Minnesota, but Mond and Davis did not.
During the lead-up to the 2021 NFL Draft, at least early in the process, some scouts nominated Davis as a 1st-Round talent. In 2019 and 2020, Davis earned 1st-Team All-Big Ten honors and was one of the best collegiate guards nationwide. That’s why Vikings enthusiasts believed an unpolished gem could be on the roster. But he hasn’t panned out yet — anywhere.
The Cardinals are fond of former Vikings, signing these men in 2022 (although not all still play in Arizona):
- Wyatt Davis (OG)
- Nate Hairston (CB)
- Jeff Gladney (CB)
- Blake Lynch (LB)
- Laquon Treadwell (WR)
- Nick Vigil (LB)
The Vikings defeated the Cardinals in Week 8, 34-26. Arizona travels to Los Angeles for a meeting with the Rams this weekend.
Davis has played two offensive snaps in his regular-season career.
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 Sal Spice. 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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