Are These Vikings on Their Way Out? 5 Veterans That May Be on the Roster Bubble
Josh Frey
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The Minnesota Vikings have done a ton of work this offseason to bring in young talent to fill out their roster. As a result, we’ve already seen a number of veteran players head elsewhere this offseason. Could there be more Viking veterans on the way out, though? Here are 5 veterans that could be on the roster bubble when training camp rolls around.
WR Jalen Reagor
The Vikings may have moved on from Adam Thielen this offseason, but they added another young receiver by taking Jordan Addison in the first round with the 23rd overall pick. The Vikings acquired Jalen Reagor via trade last offseason, and his main role with the team was as the punt returner. Reagor returned 26 punts for 167 yards last season. That 6.4 yards per return was the lowest of his career.
Not only will Addison take up many of the targets that used to go to Thielen, but he quietly was a rather productive return man in college. He averaged 15.7 yards per punt return in 2021 with the University of Pittsburgh. Perhaps he can take on that role in Minnesota as well, thus leaving Reagor as the odd man out in the WR room.
EDGE D.J. Wonnum
Minnesota added Marcus Davenport in free agency and they handed out a huge contract to undrafted free agent Andre Carter II. In addition, Patrick Jones II took a huge step forward in his second NFL season, recording four sacks in 2022.
All of these realities are bad signs for D.J. Wonnum. The 2020 fourth-round pick is entering his fourth NFL season, and it is a contract year for him as well. After leading the Vikings in sacks during 2021, he took a rather large step back in 2022. Minnesota could save $2.7 million by cutting ties with the 25-year-old, and that would go a long ways towards helping their finances.
DL Jonathan Bullard
Jonathan Bullard finds himself in a somewhat similar situation to Wonnum. The Vikings brought in Dean Lowry during free agency, and they added LSU product Jaquelin Roy in the draft, who was able to play huge snap counts for the Tigers defense throughout his career.
Meanwhile, Bullard’s first season with the Vikings was a touch underwhelming. He missed five games due to a bicep injury that landed him on IR, and he is still yet to record a sack since the 2019 season, despite starting a career-high seven games in 2022. The journeyman defensive lineman could be on the road once again this summer.
S Cam Bynum
Perhaps this indicates a bit too much faith in Lewis Cine at this point in the offseason, but based on everything that we’ve seen and heard about him this spring, the 2022 first-round pick seems to be on the fast-track towards a starting safety role next to Harrison Smith after suffering a compound fracture in his leg last season.
If that is the case, would the Vikings need to keep four safeties on the roster? It doesn’t seem like it. Should a cut come from this group, it probably ends up being Bynum rather than special team guru Josh Metellus.
TE Johnny Mundt
Unlike last season, the Vikings have a ridiculous amount of depth at tight end heading into 2023. Currently, there are six players on the depth chart at the position, and there is a serious case for four of them to make the final 53-man roster.
Johnny Mundt falls into that final four, assuming Nick Muse and Ben Sims are on the outside looking in. However, the signing of Josh Oliver makes it a bit tougher to justify keeping the 28-year-old around.
Both players are most known for their blocking prowess, and at least in 2022, Oliver was the better of the two, earning a PFF grade of 71.4 in run-blocking and 74.0 in pass blocking. Meanwhile, Mundt had a career-low 50.7 grade in run-blocking and 56.4 in pass blocking. If this remains true in training camp, Mundt could be on the way out.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.