Vikings Make It a Crowded House at QB
August has certainly been the month for Minnesota Vikings roster tweaks, and the club kept the trend alive on Friday.
Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah added XFL standout Jordan Ta’amu.
Vikings Make It a Crowded House at QB
The XFL’s main account on the X app (formerly known as Twitter) posted, “Jordan Ta’amu signs NFL contract with the Vikings!”
Ta’amu played for the XFL’s DC Defenders, a team evidently used as a feeder program for the Vikings 2023 summer roster. Wide receiver Lucky Jackson and running back Abram Smith also played for the Defender and currently live on Minnesota’s depth chart. Roster trimdowns occur on August 29th, with the team slicing the personnel to 53 players in preparation for the regular season.
An undrafted NFL commodity in 2019, Ta’amu initially latched onto the Houston Texans for three weeks before regular season roster cuts. He’s since spent time — albeit brief periods — with the Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, Chiefs again, Lions again, Washington Commanders, and Carolina Panthers before finding homes with the XFL.
In the last three years, Ta’amu has played for three XFL teams, the St. Louis BattleHawks, Tampa Bay Bandits, and most recently, the Defenders,
He whipped through the XFL for 17 touchdowns in 10 games this season, accounting for just 3 interceptions. His Defenders lost in the XFL Championship, 35-26, to the Arlington Renegades on May 13th. Along the way, Ta’amu won the XFL’s Offensive Player of the Year award — probably why the 25-year-old is getting a look from the Vikings.
Here’s the Vikings current QB room after the Ta’amu addition:
QB1: Kirk Cousins
QB2: Nick Mullens
QB3: Jaren Hall
QB4: Jordan Ta’amu
Ta’amu possesses prototypical quarterback size at 6’3″ and 215 pounds. He attended Ole Miss in college and tabulated a 30-touchdown to 12-interception split in 19 games with the Rebels.
Ta’amu said before the XFL title game about his skillset, “I took little parts from different areas to help me become the person I am today, if it’s all the way back from high school to junior college to Ole Miss. Learning from Patrick Mahomes how to be a leader, how to take every day just being yourself and at the same time preparing every day as a champion. That’s what Mahomes did. That’s what I learned a lot from whenever I was with them.”
He led the XFL in passing yards and passing touchdowns this season. Ta’amu was teammates with wide receivers D.K. Metcalf and A.J. Brown at Ole Miss.
Ta’amu is unlikely to make the Vikings final roster in 10 days, but at least he’ll have a relationship with the club if he’s needed down the road.
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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