Cold Water Poured on Big Vikings Rumor
Another wave of free agency has arrived after the 2025 NFL Draft, and it’s unclear if the Minnesota Vikings will partake.
Cold Water Poured on Big Vikings Rumor
The club added about 20 undrafted free agents in the last five days, in addition to five rookies from the draft.
And for about a month, fans have wondered if the Vikings would sign free-agent cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. after some slick and outlandish rumors suggested he’d head to Minnesota.
Those rumors appear to be on life support.
Asante Samuel Jr. Rumors Fizzle for Vikings
KSTP’s Darren Wolfson joined SKOR NORTH‘s Purple Daily show this week and said about Samuel Jr. to the Vikings: “I will tell you this much. I reached out to a prominent agent, an agent I’ve had a really good relationship going back a while. He represents, not Asante, but another relatively high-profile, available cornerback. This agent told me on Monday, the Vikings just aren’t interested. And this agent thinks nothing is going to happen anytime soon.”
The same network gave birth to the Samuel Jr. theories before the draft, claiming an anonymous emailer told the show that Samuel Jr. would sign in Minnesota because he said so to somebody’s neighbor at a Miami night club.
A classic game of telephone hearsay, the Samuel Jr. rumor mill might start and stop with the group at SKOR North.
Samuel Jr.’s Existing Health Concerns
One might consider why Samuel Jr. hasn’t signed anywhere through eight weeks of free agency, a fair question, to be sure.
He’s evidently dealing with a shoulder + neck injury — otherwise, one team of 32 would’ve signed him by now. Samuel Jr. is not an elite talent, but he possesses enough juice to be employed on some team’s roster in the month of May. Therefore, the injury concerns must be valid.
Chargers-Themed Media on Samuel Jr.
Earlier this month, BoltBeat.com‘s Jason Reed wrote about Samuel Jr.’s free agency, “Despite being one of the most promising young cornerbacks in free agency, Samuel remains unsigned as the league turns its attention to the 2025 NFL Draft. Samuel will likely remain unsigned through the NFL Draft as he won’t count toward a compensatory pick if he is signed afterward.”
“Samuel would have netted himself a significant contract if he had the kind of season fans were expecting in 2025. With limited resources to go around, Samuel has now been pigeonholed into a one-year prove-it deal with the hopes of cashing out next offseason.”
That Los Angeles has not welcomed Samuel Jr. back might be a bit telling.
Reed added. “Who that team will be remains to be seen. The Chargers signed two cornerbacks this offseason and could draft another. It is safe to say the Chargers have already closed that door.”
SI.com‘s Matthew Schmidt recently claimed that the Chargers’ draft haul, or lack thereof, might prompt Los Angeles to re-sign Samuel Jr.
Schmidt explained: “LA lacks depth at the cornerback position, and even though the Bolts had nine picks in the draft, they didn’t select a single corner. That’s in spite of the fact that the cornerback position was fairly deep in this year’s class. Now, the Chargers have kind of painted themselves into a corner (no pun intended) in which they may have to explore what’s left of the free-agent market to address the issue, and at this point, they may as well try to re-sign Samuel, right?”
“Samuel hasn’t drawn a ton of interest, so it’s entirely possible that Los Angeles may be able to bring him back on a short-term deal. He played just four games in 2024 due to a shoulder injury, so teams may be unwilling to go beyond a year or two with the former second-round pick.”
Samuel Jr. is just 25 years old.
“Heck, it may actually benefit Samuel to sign a one-year prove-it deal in an attempt to cash in on a much more lucrative long-term contract next March,” Schmidt added.
Vikings’ CB Need Is Debatable
The Vikings employ playable cornerbacks Byron Murphy Jr., Isaiah Rodgers, Mekhi Blackmon, Jeff Okudah, and Dwight McGlothern. That is plenty of men on a single depth chart, but some have questioned the beef after Murphy Jr. A healthy Samuel Jr. might easily snag a CB2 post in Minnesota.
It’s worth noting that Vikings coaches have spoken favorably about Rodgers, a free-agent newcomer, and he might slip into the CB2 job with little fanfare.
Non-Samuel Jr. Options at CB
Suppose Minnesota is interested in adding another cornerback but is, indeed, out on Samuel Jr. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah could sign Jack Jones at any time, the man he put a waiver claim on during the 2023 regular season.
Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander may or may not be released before too long.
Finally, the Jalen Ramsey trade rumors aren’t going away, especially after the Dolphins’ general manager, Chris Grier, all but confirmed that Ramsey would be traded before the start of the season.
“The Mangler” Says No Thanks to Vikings
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