Former Vikings Defender Joins Mike Zimmer in Dallas
Nick Vigil had a pair of stints with Minnesota.
The former Vikings defender originally called the Twin Cities home in 2021. He did, however, pickup work with the 2023 Vikings, as well. Until recently, the veteran was looking for his next gig, but he’s getting a chance with his old boss, Mike Zimmer, who is now the defensive coordinator with the Dallas Cowboys. The word comes courtesy of The Athletic‘s Jon Machota.
Former Vikings Defender Joins Zim in Dallas
Originally, Vigil was a 3rd-Round selection in the 2016 NFL Draft. Since then, he has been a Bengal, Charger, Viking, Cardinal, Jet, Viking again, and now a Cowboy.
Cincinnati snagged him after a strong college career at Utah State. He was quite the pass rusher in college, acquiring 18.5 sacks across a trio of seasons from 2013-15. Even more impressive is that he stacked up 41.5 tackles for a loss. Sinking the 87th pick into him thus made some sense.
From 2016-19, Vigil was a Bengal. At no point, though, did he put up numbers akin to what he showed off in college. He’s an off-ball linebacker who stands at 6’2″ and weighs 230 pounds and who has maxed out at 2 sacks in a single season in the NFL (with 5 sacks overall in his career).
After his time with the Bengals, Vigil ventured over to the Chargers for the 2020 season. He played in fifteen games and started a pair.
Minnesota brought him aboard and he ended up being an important part of their 2021 defense. Nick Vigil played in 16 games, starting a dozen, while soaking up 719 defensive snaps for Zimmer. He also put up 198 snaps on special teams, meaning the former Vikings defender was on the field for close to a thousand snaps overall.
His stats were impressive enough. There were 85 tackles, 1 sack, 1 interception, 1 touchdown, and 4 tackles for a loss. Not earth shattering but solid.
The 2022 season involved becoming an Arizona Cardinal, but there was a placement on injured reserve and just four games played.
Most recently, Vigil was a Viking. The Jets had him on their roster but he got released at the end of August in 2023. Minnesota swooped in, onboarding the linebacker.
Throughout 2023, Vigil went back and forth a bit between the active roster and practice squad. In the end, he played in eight games for the Vikings but didn’t see any defensive snaps. He did, however, put in 116 snaps for Matt Daniels on special teams.
The current batch of Vikings linebackers are being led by Ivan Pace Jr. and Blake Cashman. The UDFA add is expected to wear the green dot in 2024, yet another indication that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah absolutely nailed that signing.
The Vikings and Cowboys aren’t scheduled to play each other in 2024. It is possible, though, that they meet in the postseason if both sides end up getting there.
Nick Vigil will turn 31 on August 20th.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, Over the Cap, and Sports Refefence CFB helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.
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