2 Weeks Later, a Vikings Corner Is Already Off the Team
It’s been a strange season for the Minnesota Vikings, who have not found much consistency on offense or defense. Just a year after going 14-3 and playing for the top seed in the conference until the very last day of the regular season, the squad is set to face elimination scenarios within a couple of weeks.
2 Weeks Later, a Vikings Corner Is Already Off the Team
The front office adjusted the roster and might have even improved it on paper, but it doesn’t show on Sundays or in the win column.
A position that has undergone numerous changes is the cornerback group, headlined once again by Byron Murphy. The veteran hasn’t lived up to the expectations, yet he is still the obvious CB1 on the roster. Fellow starter Isaiah Rodgers has been up and down (his ups have been fun, though).
The Vikings also employ Jeff Okudah, but the former third overall pick is on IR, leaving Fabian Moreau as the only other cornerback on the roster behind the starters. Minnesota is using the practice squad as the depth.
A practice-squadder had to pack his bags on Tuesday. The Vikings said goodbye to Shemar Bartholomew, the team announced on social media.
The young defender had just signed a couple of weeks ago. He never suited up in purple. The remaining three CBs on the practice squad are Dwight McGlothern, Zemaiah Vaughn, and Tyrek Funderburk.
McGlothern recently appeared in some headlines because the Vikings just demoted him in favor of Fabian Moreau. He never got the chance to show his talent, yet the franchise kept him on the 53-man roster. After demoting and releasing him, the sophomore returned and signed to stick around on the practice squad.
Back to Bartholomew.
After playing his college ball at Northwestern State (2018-2022), he spent his final year (2023) at Georgia Southern.
In the 2024 draft, he went unselected, and the New York Jets added him to their offseason roster. With the Jets, the 6-foot corner played the entire preseason, and he was lights out, allowing only two catches and zero receiving yards on nine targets. That’s why four teams submitted waiver claims for the defender after the Jets waived him at the end of the preseason.
The Carolina Panthers won that race, and he was part of that franchise for the entire 2024 season. He appeared in five games, logged a couple of pass deflections and three tackles on 17 defensive snaps and 34 on special teams, but he failed to crack the lineup for the long run. His second preseason — still with the Panthers — didn’t go as smoothly as the first one with the Jets and he was waived once again.
This time, the interest wasn’t nearly as high, and he had been looking for a job ever since. The Vikings finally ended his month-long search, at least for a couple of weeks. The Houston native is now looking for a job once again.
Perhaps the Vikings felt good about their depth because Okudah is set to return from his stint on IR. He has been sidelined with his second concussion of the season and missed the last four games. That’s making him eligible to return. Whether that will be the case, though, remains to be seen and will likely be answered in the near future.
All we know is that Bartholomew, 25, won’t be part of the team as we advance into the final third of the season.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.