3 Former Vikings Are Balling Out in New Homes
The Minnesota Vikings conducted a feverish offseason several months ago, cutting ties with many free agents and onboarding newcomers galore.
Three former Vikings from the 2024 roster are excelling with new teams. Here’s how they’re making an impact and what’s next.
A few high-profile players headed elsewhere, along with some unsung contributors who signed with new teams.
And through two weeks of the regular season, three former Vikings in particular have stood off the page. These are those men listed alphabetically.
Ex-Vikings Thriving with Fresh Starts So Far in 2025
These men deserve their flowers for hot starts after departing Minnesota.
1. Camryn Bynum | S, IND
Bynum is tearing it up in Indianapolis. Absolutely continuing his upper-echelon performance from the Vikings days, and he looks even better in 2025 with his team.
Pro Football Focus has assigned Bynum an 87.7 grade through two weeks, ranking him as the league’s fourth-best safety. Bynum has banked 7 tackles, 3 passes defended, 2 interceptions, and a pass coverage grade of 83.2.
The former Viking is flat-out one of the NFL’s best safeties heading into Week 3.
2. Ed Ingram | G, HOU
There’s a caveat here: it’s just one game.
Ingram missed Week 1 due to injury with his new employer, the Houston Texans, but when he returned in Week 2, the man dominated.
In fact, Ingram is the NFL’s best offensive guard at the moment — yes, you read that right — pulling down an 83.8 grade from PFF after Week 2. For a game, he’s the cream of the crop in the NFL.
Of course, Ingram banked a similar grade in his first-ever start with the Vikings in 2022, and he never really recreated the performance from that win over the Green Bay Packers. Ingram’s next several games will be about sustainability.
And Houston desperately needs OL solutions, a franchise plagued for a long time by suspect offensive line play.
After one week, Ingram has convinced Texans fans that he could be “the guy.”
3. Daniel Jones | QB, IND
Daniel Jones has thrown for nearly 600 passing yards, accounted for 6 touchdowns altogether, and has fired up no interceptions or fumbles.
If the NFL handed out the MVP award after two weeks, Jones would win it for sure. That’s how well he has played out of the gate.
Fantasy football managers are even picking up from their waiver wires, and when that happens, you know the man’s next chapter is trending in the right direction. Jones could show up on any given Sunday and start struggling, but for the time being, he’s made the summer quarterback battle between him and Anthony Richardson feel like decades ago.
CBS Sports‘ Jeff Kerr opined on Jones this week: “Jones had the lowest interception rate in the league in that 2022 season (1.1%), reaching career highs in completion percentage (67.2%), passing yards (3,205) and passer rating (92.5). He also added career highs in rushing yards (708) and rushing touchdowns (seven).”
“Jones cashed in on that 2022 season with a four-year, $160 million contract extension from the Giants. The extension ended up being a disaster for New York, though, as Jones struggled mightily in the years that followed. Of the 57 quarterbacks that threw 300-plus attempts from 2023 to 2024, Jones was 42nd in completion rate (63.3%), 54th in touchdown rate (2.3%), 54th in yards per attempt (6.1), and 53rd in passer rating (79.4).”
The Colts suddenly have 45% odds to reach the playoffs, according to DVOA.
“Injuries didn’t help Jones either, but the marriage in New York ended with Jones being a safety on the scout team in a walkthrough practice before being released. Jones spent the remainder of the 2024 season on the practice squad of the Minnesota Vikings before signing a one-year deal with the Colts this offseason,” Kerr continued.
“The journey to success has been bumpy for Jones, and there’s no one that has witnessed it firsthand more than Barkley.”
Jones bet on himself to earn the QB1 job in Indianapolis instead of playing QB2 behind J.J. McCarthy, and through a couple of games, he emphatically made the right choice.
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