Jun 11, 2019; Eagan, MN, USA; A Minnesota Vikings helmet sits on the field at TCO Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Harrison Barden-USA TODAY Sports
He was cut to make room for Minnesota Vikings offensive guard Dalton Risner, and 82 days later, he’s back.
That’s interior offensive lineman Matthew Cindric, a Cal alumnus, reportedly re-signing with the purple team on Wednesday.
KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweeted, “Center-guard Matthew Cindric has signed a one year contract with Vikings following a successful workout per a league source.”
Cindric originally became a Viking four months ago as an undrafted free agent, a part of this extensive class:
Most of those players still reside on the summer roster, though several will depart next Tuesday during 53-man trimdowns or hit the practice squad.
The Vikings-themed rumor mill has hinted as of late that the aforementioned Risner could be released next week, perhaps causing the Cindric addition beforehand. Although the Risner rumors are unconfirmed, the veteran guard has not played much this summer due to an injury, and incumbent right guard Ed Ingram has kept Risner at bay on the team’s unofficial depth chart. So has Blake Brandel at Risner’s organic position, left guard.
CalBears.com published some factoids about Cindric earlier this year when he initially signed with the Vikings: “Broke the five-second mark in the 40-yard dash (4.99), which would have been faster than all but four offensive linemen at the 2024 NFL Combine and also had 23 bench press reps at Cal’s 2024 Pro Day.”
The site also wrote: “Started a career-high all 13 games as a 2019 redshirt freshman including 11 at right guard and two at center, each of the last three games at right guard as a 2020 sophomore, all 11 at center as a 2021 sophomore, his first three at center and final three at right guard as a 2022 junior before suffering a season-ending injury, and his first at center as a 2023 senior before suffering his second season-ending injury in as many campaigns.”
These are the Vikings interior offensive linemen following the Cindric move:
Minnesota will keep 4-6 players from that list for the regular season.
Cindric is from Sammamish, Washington, and turned 25 earlier this month. If he misses the cut next week, he could earn a spot on the 2024 practice squad.
The player waived or released to make room for Cindric was not immediately known.
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.