Former Viking Calls It Quits
Right when general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell took over in 2022, new priorities emerged, and fresh faces flooded onto the roster.
Former Viking Calls It Quits
One of those men was wide receiver Albert Wilson, who spent about three months with the Vikings in 2022. Now, Wilson is calling it quits.
24/7 Sports‘ Ben Moore tweeted on Saturday, “Former Georgia State Star WR Albert Wilson has announced that he retiring from the NFL. AW2 signed with the Chiefs as an UDFA & played with the Dolphins, Raiders and Vikings. Congrats to my guy Albert Wilson!”
So, that’s a wrap for Wilson, 31, after nine seasons in the NFL. This was his career NFL resume:
- Kansas City Chiefs (2014–2017)
- Miami Dolphins (2018–2021)
- Minnesota Vikings (2022)
- Las Vegas Raiders (2022)
Wilson joined the Vikings at the end of May 2022 when negotiations between incumbent WR and punt returner Dede Westbrook broke off. The ex-Miami Dolphin was theorized for WR5 and special teams duty early on, but the forecasts didn’t pan out. He was cut on August 22nd, 2022.
On the initial summer depth chart release in 2022, Wilson seemed to live in WR9 or WR10 territory, quite the tumble for a man once utilized as WR3 on other NFL teams. And while the Vikings could’ve kept up to 6-7 wide receivers on the active roster, there was simply no roster room for nine or ten men at the position.
Wilson spent his first four seasons in Kansas City inside the Alex Smith era and the last three campaigns with various quarterbacks in Miami. In 89 career games, Wilson grabbed 218 receptions for 2,499 yards and 12 touchdowns. Wilson also returned kicks here and there. At Georgia State, Wilson was a machine. He caught passes, returned kicks and punts, and totaled 6,235 yards, a Top 30 mark when he left the collegiate level. The Chiefs found Wilson in 2014 as an undrafted free agent.
He was at the peak of his power in 2017, the year before Patrick Mahomes formally took over, tallying 554 receiving yards on 62 targets.
Wilson’s would-be WR4 or WR5 job with the Vikings that season ended up getting filled by Jalen Reagor and Jalen Nailor. He later latched onto the Raiders’ roster but appeared in no regular season games for the 2022 season.
In his career, Wilson played one game against the Vikings, a 2014 matchup as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs. Minnesota won the game, sinking Kansas City to a 1-5 record that October. The Chiefs won 10 games in a row thereafter.
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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