Minnesota’s Overlooked Defender Who Could Shine for a Pair of Coordinators
Pull up the Vikings’ website and Tavierre Thomas, Minnesota’s overlooked defender, will have a strangely general listing: he’s a defensive back.
Generally speaking, players in the secondary – even one with as much versatility as Brian Flores’ defensive backfield – get neatly sorted into corners and safeties. Not the case with Mr. Thomas, someone who has seven years of NFL experience behind him. To get onto the roster, Thomas will need to lean into his background of defensive versatility alongside his special teams experience.
Tavierre Thomas – Minnesota’s Overlooked Defender – and the 53-Man Roster
For a depth guy, it’s often about adding value in any way possible.
Tavierre Thomas first entered the NFL back in 2018. At that time, the Vikings were just coming off of their NFC Championship game meltdown and were transitioning to Kirk Cousins, someone whom many felt was the “missing piece.”
Over in the desert, Thomas was trying to make it as a pro, landing a UDFA deal that only included $5,000 in guaranteed money (standing in contrast to many Vikings pickups under Kwesi Adofo-Mensah). Thomas, quite evidently, had much to prove, a problem that was made worse by Arizona’s decision to move on from the defender coming out of Ferris State.
What’s notable is that his career’s second chapter occurred in Cleveland, a city that employed Adofo-Mensah before Minnesota came calling. The defender put in work across a trio of seasons as a Brown, joining the fun for 45 games. He even started a trio in 2020, a season that involved him picking up 30 tackles and a forced fumble.
Thomas’ career then took him to Houston from 2021-2023 before a pit stop in Tampa for 2024. He’s now moving ahead as a Viking, his fifth team in the NFL, with the hope of securing a roster spot in 2025.
The simple fact that he landed a $2 million deal with $1 million guaranteed suggests that Minnesota’s leadership thinks he’ll stick around. Very likely, there was a bit of competition for his services, requiring Adofo-Mensah to beef up the compensation a bit to secure Thomas’ talents.
Last year, Thomas played in 45 defensive snaps and 388 special teams snaps. The year prior, Thomas jumped into 352 defensive snaps and 135 specials snaps. Therein lies the value, folks: Tavierre Thomas is someone who could get leaned on by both of Brian Flores and Matt Daniels, upping the player’s chance of earning a coveted roster spot. Always better to have two high-level coaches advocating for a player on the final team instead of just one.
A final detail to note is that the vast majority of Thomas’ defensive snaps have come from a particular area on the field: from within the slot. The defensive back has most commonly been a slot corner, a position that is so tricky it eludes several great defenders. Indeed, a lot of great outside corners aren’t capable of doing what Byron Murphy Jr. can do — line up both in the slot and outside — so having someone who can soak up snaps in that spot (if needed) is indeed a good thing.
Tavierre Thomas, 29, will be battling to earn his roster spot. Working in his favor is his capacity to do multiple things to help a team win, a basic reality that will help him to stand out as August turns into September.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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