Vikings Drop Veteran Defender
Probably en route to signing another quarterback, the Minnesota Vikings tweaked their roster on Tuesday, releasing veteran safety K’Von Wallace, who had lived on the practice squad for a couple of months.
Per usual, the Minnesota Vikings fired up a little roster maintenance this week, and one defensive back was the odd man out, released on Tuesday.
Wallace was never elevated to the 53-man roster as a Viking, but he did stay on the practice squad just in case, and will now hit the free-agent pool.
Safety K’Von Wallace Released by Vikings
Back to the drawing board for Wallace.
Two Months Later, Minnesota Severs Ties with Wallace
Unless Minnesota adds Wallace back later this season, it’s the end of the road after eight weeks.
NFL analyst Logan Ulrich wrote Tuesday, “The Minnesota Vikings announced they have released S K’Von Wallace from the practice squad, creating a space on the unit. Minnesota Vikings. Wallace, 28, is a former fourth-round pick by the Eagles in the 2020 NFL Draft out of Clemson.”
“He was entering the final year of a four-year, $4,001,113 rookie contract when he was among Philadelphia’s final roster cuts coming out of the preseason. The Cardinals claimed Wallace off waivers from the Eagles in August before waiving him a few months later. From there, he was claimed by the Titans and finished out the season in Tennessee. The Seahawks signed Wallace as an unrestricted free agent last offseason.”
The 28-year-old will now hope for another practice squad assignment.
An Indicator of an Incoming Roster Move
Typically when Minnesota (or any team) drops a player in the regular season, another roster move is on the way. And with Carson Wentz hitting injured reserve this week — he’ll have season-ending shoulder surgery — the team needs another quarterback behind J.J. McCarthy and Max Brosmer.
All signs point to general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah adding a quarterback familiar with the offense, like Desmond Ridder, who was signed and later released a few weeks ago, or Brett Rypien, who Minnesota employed all offseason and later cut during roster trimdowns in late August.
Otherwise, free-agent passers like Dorian Thompson-Robinson and John Wolford are available, too.
Vikings Safeties Sans Wallace
Meanwhile, the purple team still has plenty of safeties for Brian Flores’ defense, probably why releasing Wallace wasn’t an earth-shattering event.
These are the Vikings’ safeties after Wallace’s exit:
- Harrison Smith
- Josh Metellus
- Theo Jackson
- Jay Ward
- Tavierre Thomas
It’s worth noting that Minnesota usually has at least one safety on the practice squad. That changed with the Wallace maneuver. There are zero.
Wallace’s Career Bio
Wallace checks in at 5’11” and 205 pounds, a sturdy, compact frame built for the modern defensive backfield. The Virginia native has quietly carved out a respectable NFL career, suiting up for 71 games over the past five seasons and earning 19 starts along the way.
Across those appearances, he’s tallied one interception and 168 tackles while logging more than 2,400 total snaps — including nearly a thousand on special teams. It’s the kind of résumé that speaks less to flash and more to dependability — a grinder’s track record from a player who has learned how to stick around the business.
Here’s his destination résumé since turning pro from Round 4 in 2020:
- Philadelphia Eagles (2020–2022)
- Arizona Cardinals (2023)
- Tennessee Titans (2023)
- Seattle Seahawks (2024)
- New York Giants (2025)
- Minnesota Vikings (2025)
At this juncture of his career, Wallace might be more of a special teams asset.
Pro Football Talk on the Impending QB Addition
With Wallace gone, and if one operates under the pretense that Minnesota will sign a quarterback, Pro Football Talk‘s Mike Florio chimed in on Tuesday.
He wrote, “They’ll need to sign someone, soon. Preferably, a veteran. Ideally, someone who could play if needed in Detroit on Sunday, in the event McCarthy is injured. Of course, they could be comfortable with Brosmer serving as the primary understudy to McCarthy. They still need a third quarterback in the building.”
“They’ll presumably add one today. Possibly after a tryout competition among several candidates. The problem is that there aren’t many options. They’re aren’t enough good quarterbacks to go around. They’re aren’t enough bad quarterbacks to go around. There simply aren’t enough quarterbacks to go around — especially as more and more quarterbacks are injured.”
Again, Minnesota will likely sign the aforementioned Ridder or Rypien and call it good. It just makes sense.
Florio added, “Whoever it is, it surely will be someone. And that someone could, in theory, end up playing at some point on Sunday. Lurking at the outer edge of the radar screen is the Kirk Cousins option. Sure, it didn’t look good on Sunday, when he played in place of Michael Penix Jr.“
“But Cousins could still become a trade-deadline emergency option if McCarthy gets injured and/or face plants against the Lions on Sunday.”
Wallace will turn 29 next summer.
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