Departed Vikings Draft Pick Lands on IR
The Minnesota Vikings’ remaining playoff chances are close to zero, and the squad is facing elimination in Week 14. Starting with high expectations, the season has gone about as badly as possible. With a 4-8 record, it’s time to give some young players a shot to figure out whether they should be part of future plans.
Departed Vikings Draft Pick Lands on IR
Other teams, however, are still fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive. One of those is the Cincinnati Bengals, who are also 4-8, but play in a division without a winning team. Both the Ravens and the Steelers have a 6-6 record.
In their upcoming games, the Bengals will be without former Vikings draft choice Brian Asamoah. He was placed on IR this week after suffering an injury in the latest game against the Ravens, the team announced. It’s a knee injury for the 2022 third-rounder.
Cincy Jungle‘s Jason Marcum wrote, “Asamoah, a fourth-year player, suffered a knee injury in Cincinnati’s Week 13 game at Baltimore. His loss leaves the Bengals with just four true linebackers entering their Week 14 matchup with the Buffalo Bills, so look for the Bengals to potentially add another linebacker to the 53-man roster or the practice squad in the coming days.”
Asamoah is already on his fourth team this season. The Vikings employed him until waiving him in training camp. The first-ranked Tennessee Titans claimed him off waivers, but he failed to make their 53-man roster. In September and October, the former Oklahoma Sooner was on the practice squad in Las Vegas. After his release, the Bengals picked him up, and he was promoted to the 53-man roster three weeks ago.
The linebacker appeared in four games with the Bengals. He logged 58 snaps on special teams and zero defense.
Asamoah joined the Vikings in the 2022 draft. He arrived with high expectations given his third-round draft pedigree. In his rookie campaign, he was stuck behind veteran linebackers Eric Kendricks and Jordan Hicks. The former 66th overall pick showed flashes in his limited opportunities, going so far that the coaching staff promised to find some more reps for him.
Everything went south when the Vikings made the necessary transition from fired defensive coordinator Ed Donatell to his successor, Brian Flores. The new coach was not a fan of the defender. Kendricks departed, and Ivan Pace got the job next to Hicks, and when Hicks left in 2024, Blake Cashman was signed.
Furthermore, Asamoah wasn’t even trusted with the backup job, as Flores acquired Kamu Grugier-Hill in 2024 and Eric Wilson in 2025. In April’s draft, the club also added Kobe King out of Penn State. At that point, everyone immediately knew that Asamoah probably wouldn’t make the roster. King was waived earlier this season and is now employed by the New York Jets.
At this point, the Vikings have Cashman, Wilson, and Pace as the top trio. Rookie Austin Keys has been a special teamer. Experienced linebacker Sione Takitaki is on the practice squad.
Most of Asamoah’s 50 career games have been with the Vikings (46). The other four came with Cincinnati. It remains to be seen whether Asamoah has a chance to return for the final regular-season game.
He’s 25 years old.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.