Purple Rumor Mill: Vikings Players Joining Green Bay, Bradley Roby, Hybrid Defenders
VikingsTerritory’s Purple Rumor Mill is a two-day chronicle each week. All the week’s rumors are lassoed and plopped in two spots — articles on Saturday and Sunday — for review. Today is the September 3rd edition.
Purple Rumor Mill: Vikings Players Joining Green Bay, Bradley Roby, Hybrid Defenders
Remember — rumors are rumors. What you read on weekends in these pieces is what the world is talking about pertaining to the Vikings, not necessarily items that will come to fruition.
Here’s the second batch of the week. Yesterday’s can be read here.
Rumor: The Packers could have three ex-Vikings players in their roster orbit this season.
Unless the Packers shake up their roster in the next seven days, they employ two former Vikings for sure — linebacker Eric Wilson and recently waived tight end Ben Sims. Both men live on the cheese team’s 53-man roster.
Wilson played out his rookie contract with the Vikings from 2017 to 2020, and Sims was the guy who grabbed the sweet-but-illegal reception from QB3 Jaren Hall late in the Vikings final preseason game.
Green Bay also auditioned ex-Vikings corner Kalon Barnes this weekend. We shall see if a contract materializes in Wisconsin for Barnes.
Rumor: The Vikings should sign CB Bradley Roby for CB experience and depth.
This idea was born at Bleacher Report and by some Vikings fans. Minnesota 2023’s defense curiously lacks CB experience, instead relying on Byron Murphy, Akayleb Evans, Andrew Booth, and Mekhi Blackmon to do the trick.
Alex Ballentine recommended one free agent for each team to sign in an article this weekend, writing about Roby to Minnesota, “Bradley Roby should be on their radar. He’s been on a lot of good teams, including the Denver Broncos team that won Super Bowl 50. Roby is on the downside of his career at 31 years old, but he played well when the New Orleans Saints called upon him last season. He held opposing quarterbacks to a passer rating of 79.4 on 63 targets. He would be a strong veteran presence for a group of young players who might need it.”
Most Vikings loyalists would welcome this signing, but it is unclear if Minnesota has any real interest in Roby.
Rumor: Some of the Vikings safeties will cover cornerback duties this season.
At the Vikings press conference this week, the one where they announced T.J. Hockenson’s extension, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said about his safeties’ ability to possibly play CB, “Two of those safeties have college experience playing cornerback at a very high level, so their ability to also influence the cornerback room but also in that dime role out in the linebacker room and for a GM planning-wise, getting through the season, having players that are able to play multiple spots helps you throughout the long haul.”
This would explain why the Vikings retained six safeties on the active roster, an unusually high amount. Perhaps men like Camryn Bynum and Jay Ward are on tap to perform CB duties some of the time. It would make sense.
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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 Viking obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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