Vikings Bring 4 Players in for a Workout
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is constantly at work.
Recently, the news emerged that the GM brought several players to town for a workout. The update arrives courtesy of Aaron Wilson of KPRC2. Check it out: “#Vikings worked out Ilm Manning, Trevor Reid, Jake Julien, Nik Constantinou.” Read on for a bit of extra info about the players under consideration.
Vikings Bring in 4 Players for a Workout
Fans will be forgiven if they aren’t familiar with the names above. The most basic information is simply that Minnesota brought in a pair of offensive linemen and then a pair of punters.
Starting up front, there is Ilm Manning and Trevor Reid. Both has a bit of NFL experience, at least in terms of putting in work for some of the league’s teams. Neither has gotten into NFL game action.
Manning is 25. He stands at 6’2″ and weighs 294 pounds, so he’s a bit undersized as an NFL o-lineman. Previously, he has put in work with the Cardinals, 49ers, Panthers, and Seahawks. He got brought into the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2023, so it’s been quite the journey in a relatively short amount of time.
Reid is a touch younger, coming in at 24. He also has better size, standing at 6’5″ and weighing 307 pounds, which immediately jumps out as a more promising build to be a lineman in the NFL. Like Manning, Reid got into the NFL as an UDFA in 2023. He has put in some time with the Eagles and Falcons.
In all likelihood, Minnesota is checking in on these two linemen in an effort to do their due diligence. The starting five isn’t changing. After the initial five is a fairly established crew of depth players being led by David Quessenberry, Dan Feeney, Walter Rouse, Michael Jurgens, and Ed Ingram. Signing either of Manning or Reid would likely be for the practice squad, if at all.
Arguably more fascinating is the workout for the punters, both of whom have a history of playing professional football in Canada.
Jake Julien earned an UDFA contract with the Patriots back in 2022 after playing his college ball at Eastern Michigan. He’s Canadian — from Barrie, Ontario (per ESPN) — so it makes sense that he shifted toward work in the CFL. In 2024, Julien put together some impressive numbers, according to the league’s website. His 107 punts averaged 54 yards, with his longest going for 87 yards.
Nik Constantinou is also a punter. From Australia, Constantinou played his college ball at Texas A&M before getting a chance in the 2024 offseason as an UDFA with the Broncos. He averaged 47.1 yards per punt and had a long go for 74 yards in the CFL. His final season punting in the SEC involved a 41.3 yards-per-punt average.
One thing to note about punting in Canadian football: there’s an important rule difference (which is to say nothing of the Canadian football being bigger). The punt returner doesn’t have the option to call for a fair catch. Instead, the coverage team needs to give the returner a five-yard buffer to catch the ball cleanly, eliminating the extremely sudden hits that sometimes occur in the NFL when a punt returner — who is in a vulnerable position tracking the ball through the sky — gets lit up just as he gets his mitts on the football. Failing to give the returner the five yards results in a penalty.
Unless there’s an injury, Ryan Wright isn’t going to lose his P1 job in 2024. The third-year Viking has had some mistakes in 2024 but has improved upon his sophomore season. One would assume that having these meetings serves a twofold purpose: getting a jump on the offseason roster preparation while also having some punters on standby if there’s a need in the playoffs for an injury replacement.
Adofo-Mensah isn’t the perfect GM, but he has built an ultra competitive roster while navigating a tricky salary cap situation. The man works hard and does his utmost to be constantly prepared. Doing these meetings simply underscores these realities.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.
