Newly Available CB Should Pique Vikings Interest
Dustin Baker
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Roster cuts around the NFL were fast and furious Monday and will continue into Tuesday, as teams have until 3:00 pm CST on August 29th to arrive at 53 men on depth charts.
The Minnesota Vikings have cut ties with 15 players in the last 24 hours.
Newly Available CB Should Pique Vikings Interest
And with every team mandated to shave rosters from 90 men to 53 by Tuesday, a litany of free agents will be available. One just so happens to be available now and would fit nicely on the Vikings defensive depth chart — cornerback Desmond King.
KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweeted Monday, “Texans are releasing veteran nickel Desmond King, per a league source..”
As of 5:00 PM CST on August 28th, these were the Vikings cornerbacks:
CB1: Byron Murphy
CB2: Akayleb Evans
CB3: Andrew Booth
CB4: Joejuan Williams
CB5: Mekhi Blackmon
CB6: Jaylin Williams
CB7: NaJee Thompson
Minnesota will keep five or six of those CBs, perhaps with Jaylin Williams as the final cornerback roster cut. Rookie NaJee Thompson appeared to play his way onto the active roster with ferociously good special teams play in the preseason.
But if the Vikings don’t want to rely on the maybes provided by unproven corners like Andrew Booth and Mekhi Blackmon, adding King seems like a no-brainer opportunity. Here’s his Pro Football Focus resume since turning pro in 2017:
- 2022: 73.2
- 2021: 53.0
- 2020: 65.5
- 2019: 70.9
- 2018: 90.5
- 2017: 85.7
King was a 1st-Team All-Pro in 2018 with the Los Angeles Chargers. Here’s his career destination resume to date:
- Los Angeles Chargers (2017–2020)
- Tennessee Titans (2020)
- Houston Texans (2021–present)
While King would be an intriguing addition for the Vikings, the club has shown little interest in adding veteran defensive backs since the free-agent acquisition of Byron Murphy in March. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah let Patrick Peterson, Duke Shelley, Cameron Dantzler, Chandon Sullivan, and Kris Boyd leave this offseason, adding Murphy and Joejuan Williams as veteran replacements. Mekhi Blackmon joined from the 2023 NFL Draft.
On the whole, though, King is about the best last-second option as of late August, sans a splashy trade. He played wonderfully last year and has a rather consistent resume.
Some other free-agent CBs are on the open market, too, like Greedy Williams and William Jackson.
The Vikings regular season kicks off in 13 days versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at U.S. Bank Stadium.
King will turn 29 in December.
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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