The Vikings Reveal 4 Roster Decisions, Including a Promoted Player Moving Toward His MIN Debut
The Vikings have decided to promote veteran linebacker Sione Takitaki, giving him a chance to make an on-field impact for the first time in 2025.
The update arrives courtesy of the team’s social media: “The #Vikings have signed CB Dwight McGlothern Jr. to the active roster and elevated LB Sione Takitaki to the active roster for tomorrow’s game. TE Gavin Bartholomew and RB Ty Chandler have been downgraded to out.”
The Vikings Offer 4 Roster Decisions
Opting to keep rookie TE Gavin Bartholomew out of the game isn’t particularly surprising. He has just begun practicing after sitting out the entire year due to a back injury. In all likelihood, the plan involves slowly allowing the young fella to acclimate.
When it comes to fourth-year RB Ty Chandler, the situation is a little different.
He has been working in the Twin Cities since 2022. Chandler offers tremendous speed but is (at best) the third option at running back. More likely at this stage is that he’s behind all of Aaron Jones, Jordan Mason, and Zavier Scott. Plus, backup WR Tai Felton has done reasonably well as the other kickoff returner, further limiting the opportunity for Mr. Chandler. He could be moving toward his final games as a Viking but he may not get tasked with playing.
Meanwhile, the Dwight McGlothern believers are going to be pleased.
The sophomore corner possesses excellent height. So, too, does he have pretty good speed. The unproven defender has even had moments of strength in the preseason, offering sticky coverage against fringe NFL players. Might it be time to see what he can do against better competition?
In a lot of ways, the decision to bump up veteran linebacker Sione Takitaki is intriguing. Why now after all of these weeks? Takitaki became a Vikings employee at the beginning of September. Santa is soon to arrive and the ‘backer hasn’t yet touched the field.
The Vikings have been losing players — Josh Metellus, Jonathan Greenard, and Christian Darrisaw — but none of those players overlap with Takitaki’s position. The closest we could get is a safety who often drops down into the box.
There’s some possibility that the Greenard loss has had a domino effect.
Eric Wilson is normally an off-ball linebacker. He has often been kicked up to the edge. Maybe Wilson starts playing more snaps along the end of the defensive line, thereby opening a need for a linebacker.
But while that’s possible, the team still does boast Blake Cashman alongside Ivan Pace Jr.
In his career, Takitaki has more than 1,000 special teams snaps, so he should get a shot to help out Matt Daniels. Quite possibly, he’ll be chasing down returners for a day, proving that he’s still capable of offering a team quality snaps.
More than anything, the Vikings are looking for ongoing strong play from J.J. McCarthy. In a perfect world, the kid finds a way of delivering the ball to Justin Jefferson, a player who can only be tamed through incompetent quarterback play. Seeing the WR1 explode for north of 100 yards would make a lot of folks around the Vikings happy.
Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT.
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