Vikings Sign a New OLB to 53-Man Roster
Josh Frey
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Get ready Vikings fans, in the latest bit of Minnesota Vikings news, the Vikings have signed a former Los Angeles Ram. Unfortunately, though, his name is not Odell Beckham Jr. Instead, the Vikings announced they will sign OLB Benton Whitley to the 53-man roster.
Whitley is a 2022 undrafted free agent who spent his collegiate years at Holy Cross. He played with the Crusaders from 2017-2021 and became a starter during his junior season of 2019. Throughout his collegiate career, Whitley recorded 111 tackles and 15.5 sacks over the course of 43 games. He started 30 of them. His final year of 2021 was the best of his career as he recorded 49 tackles and 5.5 sacks.
Following college, Whitley did not get drafted during the 2022 NFL Draft, but the Rams brough him on for their training camp. He appeared in all three of their preseason games as well, including one start. During those games, he recorded seven tackles and one QB hit.
Evidently, it wasn’t enough for LA to keep him on the roster after their final roster cuts. The Rams waived him on August 30th and brought him back onto the practice squad the following day.
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A few weeks later, the Kansas City Chiefs signed him Whitley off the Rams practice squad on September 21st. However, he did not appear in any games for Kansas City before waiving and signing the rookie onto their own practice squad on October 12th. They eventually waived him last week, and now Whitley joins his third team of the season by signing with the Vikings.
Whitley stands at 6’4 and 260 pounds, giving him ideal size for the OLB/EDGE position on the Vikings roster. With D.J. Wonnum missing last week’s game due to illness, it makes sense for Minnesota to look for depth at the position. They also had a roster spot freed up after waiving WR Blake Proehl on Tuesday.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing as well as minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys marathon training, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his opinions, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.