3 WRs Highlight Vikings’ Signings to Start Offseason
Dustin Baker
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The Minnesota Vikings offseason is formally underway after an injury-ravaged 2023 campaign that resulted in a 7-10 record and no postseason.
In the next few months, Minnesota will decide on a QB1 for 2024, extend veteran contracts like those of Justin Jefferson and probably Danielle Hunter, and continue its defensive personnel rebuild.
3 WRs Highlight Vikings’ Signings to Start Offseason
And on Monday, just one day after the 2023 season ended, the Vikings signed 10 players to future contracts, highlighted by three wide receivers somewhat familiar to fans: Trishton Jackson, N’Keal Harry, and Thayer Thomas.
Every team signs about 10 players to future contracts, and this was Minnesota’s 2024 class:
- Abraham Beauplan (LB)
- Henry Byrd (OG)
- Coy Cronk (OT)
- N’Keal Harry (WR)
- Trishton Jackson (WR)
- DeWayne McBride (RB)
- Tyrese Robinson (OG)
- Thayer Thomas (WR)
- Joejuan Williams (CB)
- Jaylin Williams (CB)
Jackson hasn’t quite caught on for a full-time roster spot through four seasons in the league. An undrafted free agent with the Rams in 2020, Jackson stayed on Los Angeles’ depth chart for about a year and a half before eventually landing with the Vikings in 2021. He’s impressed back-to-back Vikings coaching staffs and general managers.
But he did see action in 2023 with the Vikings in seven games and even caught this momentous two-point conversion from Joshua Dobbs in Week 9:
Harry, a former 1st-Round pick by the New England Patriots, has tabulated 64 receptions for 714 yards and 5 scores in his five-year career, so he has some experience. He hasn’t taken the NFL by storm since 2019, especially as a former 1st-Rounder, but he was more of a ‘big name’ to land with the Vikings than most folks expected last summer. The ex-Patriot saw action in 9 Vikings games this season but caught no passes.
Thayer Thomas was an undrafted free agent in last year’s class and spent all of 2023 on the practice squad. The North Carolina alumnus excited some Vikings fans during training camp and preseason and will evidently be back in 2024, at least to vie for a roster spot this summer.
Also noteworthy about Minnesota’s future signings was the running back, McBride. A 7th-Rounder from the 2023 NFL Draft, McBride didn’t sniff the active roster as a rookie and didn’t look particularly promising in the preseason five months ago. But the Vikings still have faith as the club potentially reshapes the RB room this offseason, and McBride will be along for the ride this summer.
NFL free agency begins on March 13th — or 64 days from now.
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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