Vikings Add New WR, Drop 2 Players
Reports emerged Sunday morning that five-time Pro Bowl cornerback Stephon Gilmore had signed with the Minnesota Vikings, and the team confirmed as such on Monday morning.
Vikings Add New WR, Drop 2 Players
Gilmore, a Super Bowl champion, will presumably slide into a starter’s role in 2024. But to make room for him on the current 91-man roster, the Vikings dropped two players and added an extra wide receiver for good measure.
These were the three transactions Monday morning in addition to Gilmore’s arrival.
WR Justin Hall Signed
Hall, 25, has never played a regular season snap in the NFL, discovered by the Las Vegas Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2022. He’s a smaller wideout, checking in at 5’8″ and 189 pounds.
He last played for the Houston Roughnecks, an XFL squad, in 2023. Hall played college ball at Ball State from 2017 to 2021. There, he was rather productive, with 5,359 all-purpose yards, and was classified as the Cardinals’ primary deep threat.
The new Viking should be considered a practice squad candidate, unlikely to make the 53-man roster.
Punter Seth Vernon Out
Like Hall, Vernon has never played in a regular season game. The Atlanta Falcons onboarded the punter in 2022 from undrafted free agency. He stayed for the summer before a roster cut in August 2022. Until Monday, he hoped for a prolonged look from the Vikings. No cigar.
Vikings.com’s Lindsey Young revealed some of Vernon’s stats in April: “As a senior in 2021, he averaged 44.9 yards per punt. He averaged 54.8 yards on six punts in his only game of the 2020 season (remaining games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). In 2019, he averaged 43.2 yards per boot. Over his time at Portland State, Vernon recorded 93 punts with an average of 44.6 yards per kick. He downed 27 punts inside the 20-yard line and recorded 29 punts of 50 or more yards.”
Vernon performed well at June’s minicamp, but in the end, the incumbent punter, Ryan Wright, won the summer battle.
WR Ty James Dropped
Minnesota added James during its wave of undrafted free agency shortly after the draft. He stuck around for about four months.
In the last two seasons at Mercer, James recorded 116 receptions for 1,105 and 1,157 receiving yards with 20 combined scores. He has some big-play talent in his toolkit and will perhaps get another chance in the NFL before too long.
With Hall in, however, James is out, at least for now.
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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