The One-for-One Gridlock and The Vikings’ Eternal Work
Recently, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell took turns illuminating the issue with continuing to build up the Vikings’ roster at this stage of the offseason.
The marquee moments for adding talent have largely passed. Free agency has slowed down to a trickle, never fully done and yet not going to return with the same ferocity as in March. The 2024 NFL Draft yielded seven newcomers and then there were seventeen additions while signing UDFA talent. The end result is a roster gridlock that points to some difficult decisions ahead.
The Vikings’ Eternal Work and The Roster Gridlock
As of right now, the Vikings are working with 91 players. Most teams are constrained to just 90 but the Vikings have legally worked around the limit by adding Sammis Reyes, a player who qualifies for the International Player Pathway program (per the team).
Even with the +1, though, Minnesota is feeling the crunch of a full offseason roster.
Consider what O’Connell had to say on the matter: “We solidify our roster with [the UDFA players], we’re at 90 right now. So we’re already in the one-in, one-out world, which is tough in May but that means we’ve identified some players — both veteran wise and young guys wise — we want to try to build around.”
O’Connell’s words ended up being prophetic.
On Tuesday night, the Vikings announced that they would be moving on from veteran corner Joejuan Williams, someone who offers tremendous size and who was a 2nd-Round selection back in 2019. Removing Williams from the roster made room for James Lynch, a 25-year-old DT/DE for Brian Flores’ defense.
One in, one out. Exactly as O’Connell explained.
But then if we kick back things a bit further we can see Adofo-Mensah venture into a similar idea.
The GM was taking some time to chat about the significance of the 2024 offseason with Tatum Everett. While doing so, Adofo-Mensah explains that he’s very excited about all that Minnesota has accomplished while shoehorning a critical thought into the mix: “team building is eternal.”
The hyperbolic statement functions as a good reminder that in the NFL the work never fully stops. True, June is going to bring some slow days for news and so, too, can July offer crickets on the field where football is supposed to be played. Even in those periods, though, there is the possibility of something developing.
On May 16th, 2023, the Vikings announced that Za’Darius Smith was being traded. On June 9th, 2023, the Vikings announced that Dalvin Cook was being cut. Do the Vikings make other consequential decisions in May and June of 2024? The work, after all, is eternal. Not always proceeding at breakneck speed but never fully over.
Within the perpetual work is the Vikings’ jam-packed depth chart. Currently, 91 men can call themselves Vikings. Minnesota’s coaching staff is going to be leaning on those guys to continue improving, taking small steps forward on a daily basis as they look to overcome some long odds in 2024.
As the coaches improve the roster in that manner, Adofo-Mensah will be considering all kinds of options behind the scenes. The roster gridlock will continue featuring a one-in, one-out conundrum as the eternal work of improvement marches on.
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 and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.