Vikings Rumors: Injured Vikings in the 91-Man Roster, Elite Player Good News, & Kwesi’s Trade Connections
K. Joudry
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Though we’re now into the portion of the year when Vikings rumors aren’t as abundant, we’ll still be highlighting some of the purple rumblings.
The “Vikings Rumor Wrangle” is a series that keeps readers informed on what’s being whispered about in Vikings Land. In this iteration, we discuss Minnesota’s effort to fill up their offseason roster, some of the good news regarding a pair of (borderline) elite players, and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s various connections around the league.
The Vikings Rumors – 07.26.2023
Rumor #1 — The Vikings Are Already Dealing with Some Injuries as They Add to the Roster
Yes, that’s true, but there isn’t too much reason to panic.
Per the team, Andre Carter II has been sent to the PUP List and Chris Reed is on the Non-Football Injury List. Neither are the favorites at their position to start in the upcoming season, but injuries are always notable. Both have a strong chance of making the team, with Reed even having some potential to overcome the current starter — Ed Ingram — to get into the lineup on Sundays.
Last year, Kevin O’Connell did a wonderful job of keeping his team healthy. Of course, a lot of the injury luck comes down to just that: luck. At times, a player and team can do everything right and yet the player still suffers a brutal injury. One thinks of Lewis Cine breaking his leg in Week 4.
In 2023, O’Connell’s Vikings will be hoping that last year’s batch of rookies will experience much better health since we saw Cine, Andrew Booth, Akayleb Evans, and Ty Chandler all miss substantial time.
Typically, teams are constrained to “just” 90 men during the offseason. However, Junior Aho was added via the International Player Pathway Program, so his spot on the team doesn’t count like almost every other player. The team can therefore get to 91 men.
As a result, the team has the chance to get a bit more talent. We learned on Monday that the Vikings were adding tight end Colin Thompson (who can also long snap), guard Jack Snyder, and then tackle Bobby Evans, as Aaron Wilson reported. Each player will look to prove they belong on the 53-man roster.
Rumor #2 — Minnesota Received Great News about Danielle Hunter and Brian O’Neill
Well, the first step is to get Danielle Hunter back into the building. In that sense, Minnesota is doing well.
In yesterday’s press conference, Kevin O’Connell was his usually optimistic self while confirming that Hunter did report. The head coach doesn’t appear overly concerned, but perhaps there’s more going on behind the scenes. Ideally, the team and the edge rusher are close to getting a deal done. As of right now, the pass rusher is in the building but not participating.
O’Connell noted that Brian O’Neill won’t be going on the PUP list. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the right tackle is operating at 100%, but it does suggest he has been progressing nicely in his recovery. For the offense to reach its full potential, the tackle tandem will need to be great.
The team isn’t out of the woods yet with Hunter and O’Neill, great players at pass rusher and offensive tackle. Nevertheless, things are looking positive as training camp gets going.
Rumor #3 — Keep an Eye on Kwesi’s Connections Around the NFL for Trade Targets
Recently, I put down some digital ink explaining why Malik Willis makes some sense in Minnesota. The team’s GM has a history of bringing in young players who were highly regarded heading into their draft. Getting multiple years of team control on a cost-controlled rookie deal is an added bonus that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah seems to covet.
Making things even more plausible is that Ran Carthon, the Titans’ GM, is friends with Adofo-Mensah. That’s not an insignificant detail.
Maybe the most important connections for Adofo-Mensah are in San Francisco and Cleveland. After all, those are the spots where he worked prior to coming to Minnesota. Nevertheless, the Carthon relationship is instructive since it underscores how Kwesi’s former co-workers are scattered around the NFL.
Tennessee, San Francisco, and Cleveland are great spots to monitor, but so too are the Rams seeing as how Kevin O’Connell has a history there. Onboarding Bobby Evans is simply one example of targeting former Rams players (which is to say nothing of LB Troy Reeder, WR Brandon Powell, and TE Johnny Mundt).
Denver always stands out since George Paton — a long-time executive with Rick Spielman — is now the GM over there. Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans was coaching with the 49ers when Kwesi was in SF and so too was Miami head coach Mike McDaniel working on that coaching staff. Again, notable relationships.
A trade is by no means a guarantee, but recent history tells us that it’s certainly a strong possibility. Minnesota is sitting on roughly $18 million in cap space.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
