Vikings Say Goodbye to a Young Fella
The NFL moves pretty fast. Employed for all of 2025 as a Vikings linebacker and special teams player, rookie Austin Keys has been shown the door.
Minnesota passed along the word on social media, doing so alongside the word of beefing up the running back depth by adding Sincere McCormick. Check out the matter-of-fact news update: “The #Vikings have signed RB Sincere McCormick to the practice squad and waived LB Austin Keys.”
Vikings Say Goodbye to LB Austin Keys
The linebacker situation sits in a middle ground. Neither good nor bad as 2026 arrives.
At the top of the position is Blake Cashman, a great athlete who thinks the game at a high level and who does a nice job of communicating. He’s capable in pass coverage and can make life difficult for runners, as well. A perfect world would see the low-end LB1 shuffling over to being a high-end LB2, but we’ll see if that becomes a reality in the offseason.
The other linebacker spot has been locked down by a twosome of Eric Wilson and/or Ivan Pace Jr.
According to GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, there was at least one team (maybe more) out there willing to pay Mr. Wilson meatier money for the 2025 season. The desire to come back to Minnesota prompted Wilson to leave money on the table. He can now venture into the upcoming offseason coming off a sizzling season that’s going to prefigure a nice pay raise for 2026.
Pace has been working through a disappointing season. The aggressive undrafted talent got demoted in favor of Wilson. He has a future in the NFL, but it remains to be seen if that future is with a Vikings horn on his helmet. The hard-hitting defender will be an RFA, meaning he’s perhaps the team’s most obvious trade candidate.
Otherwise, the effort at linebacker has sometimes involved dabbling in players such as Josh Metellus and Andrew Van Ginkel, the high-intelligence, versatile players who can do anything and everything well.
Within all of that has been Austin Keys.
He got added to Minnesota’s offseason roster following the 2025 NFL Draft. Across a three-year pact coming in a touch below $3 million in promised pay, Keys secured $249,000 guaranteed. That’s a hearty payday that points toward Minnesota’s genuine desire to get him in the mix to compete for a depth linebacker job.
In fact, Keys has been kept around instead of Kobe King, the linebacker who got added with one of Minnesota’s draft picks. Overcoming a picked player means that Keys performed well.
Keys has been involved in eleven games. The season has involved 7 tackles alongside 1 sack and 1 tackle for loss. He offered these statistics while playing 8 snaps for defensive coordinator Brian Flores and 191 snaps for special teams coordinator Matt Daniels.
Standing at 6’2″ and weighing 244 pounds, Mr. Keys has a perfect build to be an NFL linebacker. Partner the size with being just 23 and it’s fair to assume he’ll get another shot, whether in Minnesota or elsewhere.
Closing off the Vikings’ 2025 season is a Packers game on Sunday, January 4th. Pulling off the win will mean going into the offseason with a 9-8 record.
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