Former Vikings TE Lands on His Feet with Cardinals
If you get deep into the weeds of the Minnesota Vikings’ draft hauls, the name Nick Muse might ring a bell, a product of the 2022 NFL Draft for general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. Muse doesn’t work for the Vikings anymore, but this week, he found a new NFL home: the Arizona Cardinals.
Thanks to the Arizona Cardinals, one ex-Vikings tight end will get another look in the NFL, hoping to find some much-needed staying power.
Muse joins an Arizona squad reeling from controversy and hungry to win its next game if only to silence the noise.
Cardinals Add Former Vikings TE Nick Muse to Practice Squad
Muse will try the Cardinals on for size — another bird team for him.
Nick Muse Signs with Cardinals
It’s another adventure for Muse, who joined the Cardinals this week. CBS Sports reported: “Nick Muse signed with the Cardinals’ practice squad Wednesday. Muse failed to make the Eagles’ initial 53-man roster in late August but has since found work with the Cardinals’ practice squad.”
“The 2022 seventh-round pick from South Carolina last played with the Vikings in 2024, making four appearances and logging 64 total snaps (47 on special teams, 17 on offense).”
Like all practice squaders, Muse will now be one promotion away from Arizona’s gameday roster.
The Third Stop in Three Years
During Adofo-Mensah’s very first draft — one now infamously ingrained in Vikings history — Muse was the final pick of the event, a 7th-Rounder from the University of South Carolina. Muse stuck around for a couple of years but was dropped by Minnesota on his birthday in the middle of the 2024 campaign.
Here’s his NFL resume since 2022:
- Minnesota Vikings (2022–2024)
- Philadelphia Eagles (2024–2025)
- Arizona Cardinals (2025)
Muse has caught one pass in his career, a 22-yard gain in Minnesota, playing 19 offensive snaps in three seasons and 184 on special teams.
Perhaps the Cardinals will give him an honest-to-goodness regular season audition at some point.
The Cardinals TE Room
What type of setup will Muse join in the desert? A pretty impressive one, actually. This is the Cardinals’ TE room at the moment:
- Trey McBride
- Tip Reiman (Injured Reserve)
- Elijah Higgins
- Travis Vokolek
- Josiah Deguara (Practice Squad)
- Nick Muse (Practice Squad)
Reiman hit the IR shelf with an ankle injury this week, prompting the Muse addition. Muse is depth during Reiman’s absence. Reiman is expected to miss the remainder of the season.
Role in Arizona
Muse’s highest upside this season is latching onto the active roster as a TE3 and perhaps contributing on special teams. McBride is a total TE target hog — in a good way — and Muse won’t even remotely sniff McBride’s workload.
However, with Reiman out, Arizona may need an extra tight end on gamedays, and Muse will hope to get the call in those situations.
Not for nothing, Muse is a Super Bowl champion, earning a ring with the Eagles last year, though he didn’t physically play in a game.
More on Reiman’s Injury
Arizona Sports‘ Tyler Drake on Reiman’s injury: “Arizona Cardinals tight end Tip Reiman is done for the season due to the ankle injury he suffered in Sunday’s loss to the Tennessee Titans, head coach Jonathan Gannon said on Monday.”
“The Cardinals placed Reiman on injured reserve Wednesday. Additionally, Arizona signed tight end Nick Muse to the practice squad and released safety Patrick McMorris from the practice squad. Reiman went down late in the third quarter after the Cardinals had just watched quarterback Kyler Murray head to the locker room with a foot injury.”
The Cardinals’ passing offense ranks 23rd leaguewide per DVOA after five weeks.
Drake continued, “Reiman has been a key blocking component for the Cardinals offense since coming to town last season as a third-round pick out of Illinois. Across four games (three starts), he caught three passes (five targets) for 18 yards and logged 98 offensive snaps (37% of available reps).”
“Now with Arizona’s primary blocking tight end sidelined, the attention turns to Higgins and Travis Vokolek to take on a bigger role offensively.”
Muse will turn 27 right before Thanksgiving next month and will hope to avoid the roster cut on his birthday, as the Vikings carried out in 2024. Arizona has a 2-3 record through five games and must win some games soon to keep pace in an overly competitive NFC West.
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