The Roster Shuffle Continues as Vikings Announce a Trio of Moves
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has been keeping busy with the Vikings. Hopefully, the GM will get the chance to step away today to enjoy some turkey-time with his family.
The most recent moves from Adofo-Mensah aren’t as exciting as adding a former top-ten pick, but they’re notable nonetheless. Add up the work that the GM did and there have been three recent decisions: signing long snapper Jake McQuaide, bringing tight end Nick Muse back to the practice squad, and then waiving edge rusher Gabriel Murphy.
The Roster Shuffle for the Vikings
Before getting too far, consider the word that comes from the team’s official social media:
Starting at the top, Mr. McQuaide. The long snapper, 36, has been in the NFL for a long time, taking part in 193 games across his career. He’s in Minnesota to replace the injured Andrew DePaola, who is on the IR getting back to full health. Obviously, losing an All Pro specialist isn’t ideal, but McQuaide appears to be doing a pretty good job (credit to Ryan Wright for doing a nice job with a few field goal holds).
The 2022 NFL Draft class hasn’t gone over particularly well. Right now, there are only four of the original ten picks on the active roster: right guard Ed Ingram, linebacker Brian Asamoah, running back Ty Chandler, and wide receiver Jalen Nailor.
Of the four, Nailor is the closest to a starter since he plays a good-sized role as the team’s WR3.
Retaining Muse is a positive, even if it’s only on the practice squad. The tight end spot is pretty loaded with T.J. Hockenson, Josh Oliver, and Johnny Mundt at the top. The best thing Muse can do is work tirelessly to become a tremendous blocker and to be an absolute stud on special teams. Accomplish those two things and Muse may carve out a role for himself in the future.
Finally, there’s Gabe Murphy.
The upside UDFA is the victim of Minnesota’s impressive edge rusher spot. Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, veteran free agent adds, are playing at an exemplary level. Patrick Jones has upped his game, Jihad Ward’s size and versatility have proven to be vital for the pass rush, and then Dallas Turner still has oodles of potential. Even worse for Murphy’s chances of sticking around has been the emergence of Bo Richter, another UDFA edge rusher who has been doing good things on special teams.
In all likelihood, the hope in Minnesota is to re-add Murphy but as a practice squad player. He had a lot of fans after the draft finished, though, so it won’t necessarily be surprising if another team makes a move to add him.
Next up for the Vikings is a contest against the Cardinals. Minnesota is sitting on a 9-2 record and Arizona is sitting on a 6-5 record. But, to be sure, those things don’t matter once the game gets going. Each team will start with zero points and whoever piles up more is going to emerge victorious on Sunday. In other words, Minnesota can’t take anything for granted as they pursue their tenth win of the year.
Kickoff is going to take place at 12 p.m. CT.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.