Ousted Vikings QB Makes His Return
Entering the preseason, Minnesota had four quarterbacks under contract: expected bridge starter Sam Darnold, promising rookie J.J. McCarthy, gunslinging veteran backup Nick Mullens, and hopeful sophomore Jaren Hall. The latter couldn’t convince the brass that he should be the QB3 following McCarthy’s injury, so he was surprisingly released ahead of the season.
Ousted Vikings QB Makes His Return
To take his spot, the front office acquired veteran signal-caller Brett Rypien. The 28-year-old has bounced around in his career and has four starts under his belt.
On Tuesday, the Vikings announced his exit to make room for ex-Giants starter Daniel Jones. The franchise added him to the roster to be eligible for the compensatory formula in case of his departure in free agency, but also perhaps because he is an upgrade over Rypien from an on-field perspective if the Vikings needed their QB3 to take the field.
Rypien passed waivers, something folks doubted, especially because of his past with Sean McVay and the fact that the two organizations are scheduled to meet on Monday in a playoff game in Los Angeles.
And, of course, the Vikings signed him to the practice squad, they announced on Thursday. “The Vikings have signed QB Brett Rypien to the practice squad,” the official account posted on X.
In his four seasons at Boise State, Rypien registered 13,581 passing yards and 90 touchdowns with only 29 interceptions, leading the program to three straight 10-3 seasons in his final three years.
Still, the NFL was not impressed. He went undrafted in 2019 and signed with the Denver Broncos. He moved between the practice squad and the 53-man roster for four years and saw game action in eight contests, including three starts.
Last year, when Matthew Stafford missed a game, the Rams started backup Rypien. The game was lost, and the passer was released after the final whistle. He then had stints with the Seahawks and the Jets. In March, he signed with the Bears, but Chicago released him ahead of the cutdown deadline.
In his six-year career, Rypien played in ten games (four starts), throwing for 950 yards, four touchdowns, and nine interceptions. His track record is fairly underwhelming and uninspiring, but the NFL keeps handing him depth QB jobs, likely because he is a great teammate and excellent at helping the starter prepare for the upcoming game ‒ something Sean Mannion used to be famous for in the Twin Cities.
Rypien has not entered a game for the Minnesota Vikings, and barring catastrophic events, he won’t this year.
Presumably, the depth chart looks like this:
- Sam Darnold
- Nick Mullens
- Daniel Jones
- Brett Rypien (practice squad)
However, head coach Kevin O’Connell talked about the fluidity of the depth chart at his Thursday press conference.
It remains to be seen whether Jones or Mullens will be the primary backup, but it’s fair to say that fans would prefer to see neither of them on the field outside of garbage time in a huge victory.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this article.
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Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt