Vikings Whittle Down Defense by Showing Promising Pass Rusher the Door
In the end, the decision may end up aging poorly.
The long and strong Andre Carter is going to be cut by the Vikings. Mike Garofolo of The NFL Network was the one to break the news: “The #Vikings are waiving edge rusher Andre Carter II, source says. Former Army Black Knight had two sacks, one a strip sack, in the preseason finale against the #Eagles.”
Vikings Move on from Promising Pass Rusher
To be sure, we’re not talking about Myles Garrett, but Andre Carter is someone who has some upside.
Clearly, Minnesota believed as much. After the 2023 NFL Draft, the Vikings made it a major priority to sign the UDFA edge rusher. Carter landed a whopping $340,000 in guaranteed money, suggesting that several teams were competing for his services. Good chance one of those teams will now be looking to scoop him up now.
Of course, there’s a small chance that someone sends over a late-round selection. Part of the upside of the news emerging a bit before the deadline is that a team could toss a conditional 7th (or something of the sort) over since they don’t think they’ll be able to onboard him via waivers.
As a rookie, Carter played in a dozen games for Minnesota. He had a pair of tackles for his troubles, playing 68 snaps on defense and 142 on special teams.
The preseason featured some strong moments, such as the above clip where Carter’s long arms create some issues for Philadelphia. Right after the Philadelphia game, Kevin O’Connell spoke about the “active” defensive front while specifically naming Andre Carter.
“[Andre Carter] had two sacks off the edge today, forced a fumble, four tackles,” O’Connell explained. Despite the production, the Vikings will be moving on.
Minnesota’s pass-rushers are being led by a top trio of Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Dallas Turner. All are newcomers in Minnesota. The first two names were added in free agency and the final one got added in the opening round of the draft.
Otherwise, Minnesota is working with a room that consists of Jihad Ward (good size and versatility), Patrick Jones (a former 3rd-Round pick of the Spielman era), and Bo Richter (an impressive UDFA). Some combination of those three players are going to round out the edge depth.
If the unlikely occurs and a team doesn’t move in for the pickup, Minnesota will almost certainly re-welcome Andre Carter to Eagan but as a practice squad candidate.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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 and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.
