A Vikings Receiver May Get Cut Unless He Has a Monstrous Week 3 Effort
Vikings receiver Tim Jones has been getting a mixture of good and bad news lately.
The end of August arrived and he made the final roster. Jones was then dropped to the practice squad following the Adam Thielen trade. The team then needed special teams help following the Week 1 injuries, leading to Jones being signed to the 53-man roster. He’s entering a pivotal Week 3 since the return of Jordan Addison in Week 4 could lead to yet another demotion.
Vikings Receiver Tim Jones Battling for His Roster Spot
To be sure, Minnesota will welcome the hypothetical swap.
Addison doesn’t offer the same size and special teams abilities as Jones. The Vikings will nevertheless be keen to welcome the WR2 back into the mix. He’ll take heat off of Justin Jefferson while making plays of his own. Someone is going to need to be subtracted to make room for Addison; recent history suggests Jones is as likely as anyone.
Consider, more broadly, who else is in the receiver room:
- Justin Jefferson
- Adam Thielen
- Jalen Nailor
- Tai Felton
- Myles Price
The first player is as untouchable as an NFL player can get. The league where job security is nowhere to be found has somehow become a place where Jefferson found a way of earning job security. Thielen isn’t going anywhere, Felton is vital for specials, and Price is the main returner on punt and kickoff.
A future where Jalen Nailor gets moved out via trade wouldn’t be super surprising, but that’s an outcome that’s contingent on a few factors.
First, Minnesota would need to feel good about its receiver room. The Jefferson, Addison, and Thielen three-headed monster is excellent. Operating behind that trio could be Felton, Price, and Jones. Basically, some sturdy options for specials who could slowly be worked into the offense, making gradual progress toward earning snaps for Kevin O’Connell’s main phase.
There would then need to be a buyer, a team willing to forfeit a late-round pick for Nailor. Quite possibly, a team like Kansas City or Buffalo — legit Super Bowl contenders over in the AFC — would welcome a deep threat. Nailor, someone coming in at 5’11” and 190 pounds, is sitting on 4 catches for 59 yards in 2025, numbers that could be much beefier had J.J. McCarthy hit him on that slot fade.
One wonders, in fact, if trading out a receiver would be Minnesota’s desired outcome. Picking up an asset while clearing some cap room (in fairness, a tiny amount) without depleting the strength of a position sounds like an ideal outcome for most GMs.
Assume, however, that the Vikings need to cut someone to clear a roster spot for Jordan Addison. Is it going to be Tim Jones? He has already been shuffled between the practice squad and roster several times.
Standing at 6’1″ and weighing 200 pounds, Jones offers pretty good size. He has been part of both games for the Vikings, earning 6 snaps on offense. Unsurprisingly, he hasn’t earned any catches. He has, however, gotten into action for 25 plays on specials.
A pile of attention in Minnesota is being paid to what’s taking place at quarterback. McCarthy is nursing an ankle injury, meaning it’s time for Carson Wentz to show if he’s still got some magic in his arm. Has Wentz developed some rapport with the depth receiver? If so, it wouldn’t be surprising since Wentz’s snaps have mostly been constrained to the second team, the spot where Jones lives.
Tim Jones, 27, could very plausibly be fighting for his job in Week 3. Being a menace on special teams who can block defensive backs into oblivion is what will make him feel indispensable to the coaching staff. Picking up a catch or two along the way would be like adding sprinkles onto the ice cream.
Jones is carrying a $1,038,889 cap charge. There’s $0 sitting in the guaranteed money bucket.
Kickoff between the Vikings and Bengals is at noon on Sunday, September 21st.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
