Purple Rumor Mill: Greg Joseph, Former Viking in TEN, Irv Smith’s Future
VikingsTerritory’s Purple Rumor Mill is a two-day chronicle each week. All the week’s rumors are lassoed and plopped in two spots — articles on Saturday and Sunday — for review. Today is the September 15th edition.
Purple Rumor Mill: Greg Joseph, Former Viking in TEN, Irv Smith’s Future
Remember — rumors are rumors. What you read on weekends in these pieces is what the world is talking about pertaining to the Vikings, not necessarily items that will come to fruition.
Here’s the second batch of the week. Yesterday’s can be read here.
Rumor: Greg Joseph signed with the Lions this week, making it back-to-back rival contracts for the ex-Vikings kicker.
Former Minnesota Vikings kicker Greg Joseph signed with the Green Bay Packers in May, almost won the main kicking job but lost to an unknown undrafted free agent named Brayden Narveson, and then signed with a different NFC North team this week — the Detroit Lions.
Joseph will become the first line of defense at kicker if incumbent specialist Jake Bates falters or gets injured.
The ex-Viking will live on the Lions’ practice squad. All he needs to do is eventually sign in Chicago to complete the Robert Tonyan round-robin of the NFC North.
Rumor: James Lynch will receive regular season playing time in Tennessee.
Long-time defensive tackle James Lynch was an odd man out during Vikings’ roster cuts 2.5 weeks ago but landed with the Tennessee Titans’ practice squad soon after. Fast-forward to Week 2 of the NFL season, and Lynch will be promoted to the active roster.
Lynch joins these Titans defensive tackles on the gameday depth chart:
- Jeffery Simmons
- T’Vondre Sweat
- Sebastian Joseph-Day
- Keondre Coburn
- James Lynch
He should get at least a few snaps in the next handful of games, a sweet development for the once-promising defender.
Rumor: Irv Smith Jr.’s career could be close to over.
Irv Smith Jr. auditioned for the New England Patriots’ roster this week, but no contract has materialized so far.
Smith Jr., 26, was drafted by the Vikings in the 2nd Round of the 2019 NFL Draft and possessed gobs of upside during his entire Minnesota tenure. But the club traded for T.J. Hockenson in November 2022, spelling the beginning of the end to Smith’s career in purple.
He joined the Cincinnati Bengals in 2023 and quickly became a non-factor. Then, this offseason, Smith became a Kansas City Chief but failed to make their practice squad. The guy is running out of chances, and if he can’t even reach the Patriots’ practice squad, the end could be nigh for his brief career.
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 MIN 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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