Vikings Make First Roster Move in 2 Weeks
Two weeks ago, the Minnesota Vikings finalized a contract with wide receiver Rondale Moore.
Vikings Make First Roster Move in 2 Weeks
The new speedster is a Viking, but then, everything transaction-wise pretty much stopped. No free agents have come through the door, and most expect Minnesota to add one or two after the draft.
But on Monday, the roster underwent a bit of maintenance, cutting one cornerback from the depth chart.
Nahshon Wright Cut
On Monday, 17 days before the 2025 NFL Draft, Minnesota’s social media team tweeted, “The Vikings have released CB Nahshon Wright.”
And that’s a wrap on Wright’s career in Minnesota, a relationship that lasted about eight months. Wright will now be free to sign anywhere in the NFL.
Fruit from the Andrew Booth Trade
On August 9th, 2024, Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah cut his losses from the 2022 2nd-Round draft pick of Andrew Booth, shipping him to the Dallas Cowboys for Wright, who spent the next three weeks battling for a roster spot.
The trade ended a disappointing Booth era in the Twin Cities but allowed Adofo-Mensah to save a little bit of face by adding a young asset in Wright. The new Viking later missed out on the 53-man roster cut but was added to the practice squad soon after.
Wright lived there for the entire 2024 campaign and even signed a futures deal with the purple team after the Vikings lost in the playoffs to the Los Angeles Rams. The futures deal was short-lived.
Wright’s Biography
Here’s Wright’s Pro Football Focus resume through four seasons:
- 2024: Did Not Play
- 2023: 60.1
- 2022: 51.8
- 2021: 45.7
And his passer-rating-against:
- 2024: Did Not Play
- 2023: 109.7
- 2022: 73.8
- 2021: 77.6
The NFL resume:
- Dallas Cowboys (2021–2023)
- Minnesota Vikings (2024)
Dallas found Wright in Round 3 of the 2021 NFL draft, the same day Minnesota onboarded failed experiments in Kellen Mond, Chazz Surratt, and Wyatt Davis. Wright didn’t thrive in Dallas and joined Minnesota via trade last August accordingly.
It’s worth noting that Booth is still on the Cowboys’ spring roster.
Fans Wonder … Who’s Incoming?
Anytime a player like Wright gets chopped, eager fans hope it’s a signal that another free agent is on the way. This go-round, that flavor is veteran cornerback Jack Jones.
NFL Network‘s Ian Rapoport tweeted Sunday, “The Raiders are releasing CB Jack Jones, sources say, after Las Vegas attempted to trade him. An intriguing option for a CB-needy team.”
Fans flocked to social media, claiming and crossing fingers that Jones could be the incoming move to correspond with Wright’s release.
Jones, a former 4th-Round pick by the New England Patriots in 2022, fired up some sweet seasons in 2022 and 2023, with PFF scores above 70.0. His 2024 campaign — a 53.9 grade — didn’t go so well, but folks would hope he’d return to his pristine form in Minnesota with Brian Flores’ tutelage.
Back in 2023, Minnesota was interested in Jones. ESPN’s Field Yates tweeted in November 2023: “The Vikings joined the Raiders in putting a claim in on CB Jack Jones, per source. The Raiders had higher priority in the waiver order and land the former Patriot in their secondary.”
Janik Eckardt of PurplePTSD, a sister site to VikingsTerritory, wrote about Jones this week: “If the Vikings are still interested, now is the chance to grab him. The 27-year-old would not enter the compensatory pick calculation because he was released. He was also invited to the Twin Cities for a pre-draft visit.
“The Patriots also hosted him and ultimately drafted him. The Vikings apparently preferred Akayleb Evans and traded up to choose him three spots ahead of Jones.”
Vikings CB Outlooks without Wright
Without Wright, and even if the club doesn’t sign Jones, the cornerback room is in decent shape, featuring Byron Murphy Jr., Isaiah Rodgers, Mekhi Blackmon, Jeff Okudah, and Dwight McGlothern on the current depth chart.
Minnesota could also use the draft at the end of the month to explore a 1st- or 2nd-Round corner like Jahdae Barron, Shavon Revel Jr., or Maxwell Hairston, among others.
Wright will turn 27 in September.
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