Vikings Make Another Roster Move
The Minnesota Vikings signed safety Gervarrius Owens on Wednesday and weren’t done adding new players because general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah found a new depth offensive tackle on Thursday.
The Vikings have signed a veteran offensive lineman and waived another as summer roster maintenance continues for the purple team. Preseason is around the corner.
He’s veteran lineman Matt Nelson, the latest newcomer to Minnesota’s roster, and he’ll vie for a 53-man roster spot in the next four weeks.
It’s summer offensive line depth for Kevin O’Connell’s team.
A New Lineman for the Vikings
Nelson will try his damnedest to stay attached to the roster into the regular season.
Vikings Sign OT Matt Nelson
NBC Sports‘ Charean Williams wrote, “The Vikings signed veteran offensive lineman Matt Nelson, the team announced Thursday. In a corresponding move, the Vikings waived rookie defensive lineman Alexander Williams with an injury designation.”
“Nelson originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Lions following the 2019 draft. He appeared in 43 games, including 14 starts, with the Lions from 2020-23. Nelson started a career-high 11 games during the 2021 season, including nine at right tackle.”
Many summer additions for NFL teams in July are players with no regular experience — practice squad and undrafted free-agent types. But Nelson isn’t like that.
Who’s Matt Nelson?
If you’re an intense football fan who intently follows the NFC North, Nelson might sound familiar. He spent four seasons within the Detroit Lions organization, a rival of the Vikings, before trying on the New York Giants for size last season.
Here’s his NFL resume to date:
- Detroit Lions (2019–2023)
- New York Giants (2024)
- Minnesota Vikings (2025)
And the skinny from Pro Football Focus:
- 2024: n/a
- 2023: n/a
- 2022: 46.3
- 2021: 50.8
- 2020: 55.8
- 2019: n/a
Nelson last played in a regular season game for the Lions in 2023 — he even started two games — but PFF curiously didn’t assign a grade for that campaign. He spent last season on the Giants’ practice squad.
The 53-Man Roster Outlook
Nelson, 29, is a fascinating signing because he could realistically make the regular season roster if Minnesota preferred him over a player like Walter Rouse or rookie Logan Brown. He’s played 43 games in the NFL, with 14 starts — most of them occurring with the 2021 Lions when Detroit still stunk.
In all likelihood, Nelson will fail to make the active roster in about four weeks, casting him back into free agency. However, if he plays his cards right, he could earn a practice squad assignment or even make the 53-man roster if injuries rattle the offensive line.
All the Current OTs
These are the Vikings’ offensive tackles at the moment:
- Christian Darrisaw
- Brian O’Neill
- Justin Skule
- Walter Rouse
- Logan Brown
- Matt Nelson
- Leroy Watson IV
It’s also worth noting that Darrisaw is still recovering from a torn ACL that he suffered nine months ago, though the franchise cornerstone OT is back and practicing at training camp.
More on the Vikings’ Offensive Line
SI.com‘s Will Ragatz wrote about the purple offensive line earlier this month, “The Vikings made a point to go out and load up their offensive line this offseason. They signed former Colts standouts Ryan Kelly and Will Fries in free agency, then used their first-round pick on Ohio State’s Donovan Jackson to complete an overhauled interior trio.”
“Paired with outstanding tackles Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill, it’s a line that has a chance to be very good if everyone is healthy. How good could it be? Trevor Sikkema and Dalton Wasserman of the PFF NFL Show recently ranked every offensive line in the NFL, and they had the Vikings at No. 7.”
Vikings fans haven’t been this stoked about the offensive line arguably since 2009 or 2010.
Ragatz added, “But Sikkema himself had them at 4, and he thinks the ceiling is even higher than that. On paper, it’s not too difficult to imagine the Vikings having a pretty dominant front five. Darrisaw is good of a left tackle as there is in the league when he’s healthy. O’Neill is the model of consistency on the other side.”
“So is Kelly, who is a four-time Pro Bowler. Fries was playing at a very high level early last season before he got hurt. Jackson looks ready to be an effective Day 1 starter. Health is another factor. Darrisaw and Fries are both coming off of major season-ending injuries.”
Nelson will be a dark horse to monitor for the remainder of training camp and in the preseason to see if he has the juice to earn a roster spot.
He attended the University of Iowa with Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson, overlapping from 2016 to 2018.
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