Vikings Were Never In on Popular Wideout

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The Minnesota Vikings went through the 2024 NFL Draft without selecting a potential option to compete for the third wide receiver position. While they may be comfortable with Brandon Powell, a lack of other logical options seems to be an unwise way to backfill K.J. Osborn’s role. No matter what, the Vikings were never in on Tyler Boyd.

Vikings Were Never In on Popular Wideout

The wide receiver market has been robust throughout free agency, and multiple big names were available. With Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison operating as the top two wideouts for Kevin O’Connell’s offense, there isn’t much of a need to bring in a top-tier talent. Searching for that next option, someone to operate outside of them,

free agents
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Tyler Boyd continued to seem like a logical fit. Darren Wolfson reported that the Vikings were never in for his services, though.

Now signed with the Tennessee Titans, Boyd isn’t possible for the Vikings. If they were never in on signing him anyway, that doesn’t seem to be much of a loss. Who the Vikings are involved with remains to be seen, but there has been quite the run on receivers over the coming days.

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Maybe the Vikings will opt against bringing anyone in at all, but realistically, Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy will need more help than just their top two wideouts to start the year. T.J. Hockenson isn’t going to open the season on the active roster, and missing such a talented tight end significantly changes the passing game.

Employing former Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones, there is an opportunity to target him out of the backfield, but with his injury history, it remains to be seen how often he is on the field. Going into the season with a thin position group, similar to the choice that was made at running back last season, would only put Minnesota in a difficult position should someone go down.

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd (83) stands by between drills during training camp practice at the Paul Brown Stadium practice field in downtown Cincinnati on Monday, Aug. 2, 2021. Cincinnati Bengals Camp. © Sam Greene via Imagn Content Services, LLC.

Powell played admirably in limited action last season, but expecting him to leap into a starting role with no hiccups may be something of a far-fetched idea. There are still multiple weeks until training camp kicks off, but it’s getting late early if the Vikings want to find an agreement with someone available on the open market.


Ted Schwerzler is a blogger from the Twin Cities that is focused on all things Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings. He’s active on Twitter and writes weekly for Twins Daily. As a former college athlete and avid sports fan, covering our pro teams with a passion has always seemed like such a natural outlet.