3 Vikings Who Disappeared without a Trace
It happens every year: a few notable Minnesota Vikings players from the year prior don’t return to the club — and then wholly vanish from the NFL. The 2025 campaign was no different.
Roster turnover happens every offseason, and a handful of Vikings vaporized in the last year. Gone for good.
The Vikings finished 9-8 in 2025, missed the postseason, and, along the way, these men from the 2024 roster became afterthoughts, failing to sign with any other teams.
Forgotten Vikings from the 2024 Roster Who Quietly Vanished
It’s the defunct Vikings, remnants of the 2024 roster.
Stephon Gilmore (CB)
Gilmore started for the 2024 Vikings and actually played quite well. But it was the age-34 season for the five-time Pro Bowler, and despite plenty of quiet rumors that the Vikings would sign him for depth heading into 2025, nothing ever happened.
He also trotted through the Dallas Cowboys‘ rumor mill for a while, playing for the Cowboys in 2023 and available if they needed him. Well, the Cowboys needed a lot of help on defense, ranking dead last in the NFL per EPA+CPOE, but they just never called Gilmore.
In fact, no team ever called. It appears that Gilmore has quietly retired. Gilmore is also a two-time All-Pro and Super Bowl champion.
Patriots-themed media recently mentioned a possible comeback for Gilmore, though.
Musket Fire‘s Sara Marshall wrote two weeks ago, “He might be a few years older than the last time he suited up with the team, but Gilmore has been a consistently impressive cornerback in the years since he was traded, and it’s actually shocking that he watched the 2025 season from home rather than on a competitor’s roster.”
“That could ultimately be a bad thing if he wants to continue his career, or perhaps a year of rest will make him even better. Regardless, it doesn’t seem like a horrible idea for the Patriots to, at the very least, consider what he could bring to their cornerback room. At this point in his career, he might not garner an overly expensive contract, and his connection with Gonzalez would make them quite an explosive duo on the field, even if it wasn’t on every snap.”
Perhaps the Patriots could call up Gilmore as an extreme contingency plan if they reach the AFC Championship and multiple cornerbacks get hurt.
Marshall continued, “It’s possible they will have the opportunity to explore bringing him back to Foxboro during free agency, and because he’s already stated he’d like to return, it might not be too difficult to get a deal done.”
“It will mostly hinge on what they think he is still capable of and if Gilmore would be willing to possibly not be a starter, if the Patriots want to continue with Davis, which they haven’t suggested otherwise. No matter what, it should be a conversation the front office has this offseason.”
Kamu Grugier-Hill (LB)
When Blake Cashman missed time in 2024, Grugier-Hill stepped in and held the defense together well enough that a return felt likely. Many fans assumed Minnesota would keep him around.
The Vikings chose a different path. They opted for familiarity, bringing back Eric Wilson, a 2017 draft pick who entered 2025 as the primary backup linebacker. That depth plan didn’t last long. Wilson was quickly elevated into a starting role, reshuffling the room again.
Behind him sat Ivan Pace Jr., the same player Wilson replaced. With Cashman entrenched, Wilson promoted, and Pace still in the mix, Grugier-Hill fell out of the picture and signed nowhere in the NFL in 2025.
Grugier-Hill posted a 36.4 Pro Football Focus grade for the 2024 Vikings, seeing action on 182 snaps. The 31-year-old has not explicitly retired.
House of Houston‘s Jovan Alford made the case for the Texans to sign him last summer: “The Texans should consider bringing back veteran LB Kamu Grugier-Hill. However, before the action begins in September, Houston should take a quick look at the free agent landscape to see if it can find additional veteran depth at cornerback, defensive end, or linebacker.”
Brandon Powell (WR)
Powell served as the Vikings’ punt returner in 2023 and 2024 and actually performed the role at a reasonable clip. He was also the club’s WR4 in those campaigns, but when Minnesota drafted Tai Felton last April and signed Myles Price a couple of days later, Powell was all but ruled out as a re-signee in the Twin Cities.
The former Super Bowl champion (Los Angeles Rams with Kevin O’Connell in 2021) didn’t really have a free-agent market in 2025 and consequently sat out the year. When Rondale Moore tore his ACL last August, many mentioned him as a replacement option, but nothing ever came of it.
At age 30, Powell may be done.
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