Ex-Vikings Defender Returns to Chargers
Dustin Baker
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One former Minnesota Vikings linebacker was unemployed for about two months but is back in the saddle, at least on the practice squad.
Ex-Vikings Defender Returns to Chargers
Blake Lynch rejoined the Los Angeles Chargers on Tuesday, a 2-4 club through Week 7, with a 20% chance of reaching the playoffs.
Lynch pairs up on the same roster as former Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks in Los Angeles after Kendricks signed out west during free agency. Lynch signed on with the Chargers at the start of training camp but was a roster-cut casualty in late August.
Now, he’s back on the Chargers practice squad and is an injury away from promotion to the active roster.
The Chargers are Lynch’s third team in four seasons, last on the Cardinals roster from October 2022 to May of this year. Arizona released Lynch five months ago, and he’ll now try on the Chargers for size, hoping to hit the 53-man roster at some point in the next 10 games.
The Vikings found Lynch as an undrafted free agent before the pandemic season in 2020, and he stayed on the roster for a smidgen over two seasons (if one counts the 2022 preseason). In total, Lynch played 20 games for the Vikings while starting seven. He’s notched 47 total tackles, three passes defended, two sacks, a tackle for loss, and a QB hit during his two-year career. The Baylor alumnus was on the Vikings roster bubble in 2022 but fell short to rookie Brian Asamoah and veteran Troy Dye, who live on the Vikings active roster. Lynch could’ve joined Minnesota’s 2022 practice squad, in theory, but the Vikings chose rookie linebacker William Kwenkeu instead.
Lynch did not play in any regular season games last year.
He recorded a 64.6 grade from Pro Football Focus in 2021, though, and a 34.1 as a rookie in 2020. He was a mainstay of the Vikings special teams unit in 2021, playing 342 snaps with that group. Perhaps special teams will eventually become his assignment with the Chargers.
These are the Chargers inside linebackers with seven games in the books:
- Eric Kendricks
- Kenneth Murray Jr.
- Daiyan Henley
- Nick Niemann
- Tanner Muse
Lynch is the only off-ball linebacker on the Chargers practice squad at the moment.
The Chargers beat the Vikings in Week 3 at U.S. Bank Stadium, sinking Minnesota’s season to a low point. The purple team has since won three of its last four games.
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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 Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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