Former Viking Auditions for Colts’ Roster
Chris Reed lived on the Minnesota Vikings’ roster for two years.
Former Viking Auditions for Colts’ Roster
And if he has a little luck this week, he could become an Indianapolis Colt, a place where he spent the 2021 campaign.
KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweeted Tuesday, “The Colts worked out guard Chris Reed.”
The Vikings did not re-sign Reed last March during its free-agent haul, and Reed waited until July for NFL marching orders. He signed with the Houston Texans for six weeks before an August release and later latched onto the New Orleans Saints’ roster for a month. He’s been without a job since October 22nd.
Here’s Reed’s NFL resume to date:
- Jacksonville Jaguars (2015–2018)
- Miami Dolphins (2019)
- Carolina Panthers (2019–2020)
- Indianapolis Colts (2021)
- Minnesota Vikings (2022–2023)
- Houston Texans (2024)
- New Orleans Saints (2024)
A journeyman indeed, if Reed parlays the tryout into a contract, he’ll join these Colts offensive guards:
- Quenton Nelson
- Dalton Tucker
- Josh Sills
- Atonio Mafi
Colts guard Will Fries is on injured reserve.
Reed, 32, played in seven games for the Vikings in 2022, starting one, the regular season finale at the Chicago Bears. He replaced Garrett Bradbury and Austin Schlottmann at center in a Week 17 contest at the Green Bay Packers with a performance he’d assuredly like to forget. But after one week’s worth of practice and reps at center — he’s a guard by trade — Reed played commendably at Soldier Field to wrap up the 2022 regular season.
Then, in 2023, Reed became a footnote when Dalton Risner joined the club, only playing two offensive snaps during the entire season. Accordingly, Reed was not a priority for the Vikings to re-sign, and he spent about four months on the open market before landing in Houston.
Minnesota, too, added Risner back to the roster in May, dampening any possibility of a Reed reunion. Risner actually joined the Vikings’ starting lineup for the first time in 2024 three days ago.
Reed has experience with the aforementioned clubs playing left guard, right guard, and center. So far in his career, Reed has registered decent grades from Pro Football Focus, especially since 2019:
- 2016 = 53.5
- 2017 = 50.8
- 2018 = 57.3
- 2019 = 70.3
- 2020 = 63.0
- 2021 = 67.2
- 2022 = 54.3
- 2023 = n/a
- 2024 = n/a
Reed was viewed as a valuable commodity for Vikings fans two years ago when he joined the team because the Vikings’ guard play before head coach Kevin O’Connell took over inspired frequent nightmares. From 2018 to 2021, Minnesota could not solve the right guard spot, employing oodles of solutions that turned out to be half-measures. Everything changed, however, when O’Connell took over in 2022, stabilizing all offensive line operations.
Indianapolis’ offensive line ranks around 15th per PFF through 11 weeks.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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