Vikings Make Call on Max Brosmer’s Roster Status
The Minnesota Vikings are navigating through the NFL’s roster cutdown day, on which the league’s clubs must reduce the number of rostered players from 90 (or 91) to 53. They have already made a stunning move and some expected ones.
Vikings Make Call on Max Brosmer’s Roster Status
Undrafted rookies are always in danger of drawing a cut, primarily because they start their NFL journey with only an outside chance. If teams truly believed in them, they would’ve drafted that player rather than playing the undrafted rookie game and potentially losing him to another team. Stories like Ivan Pace Jr.’s are so sweet because they are rare.
Among those long shots was Max Brosmer. Although he was viewed as one of the top one or two undrafted quarterbacks, he still had to compete with trade acquisition Sam Howell and veteran Brett Rypien for the coveted spots behind J.J. McCarthy.
It turns out, Brosmer is the lone man standing from that depth trio. Rypien was cut, and Howell was sent to Philadelphia. Still, the Vikings could’ve looked elsewhere for QB help or stuck with just McCarthy and newcomer Wentz.
On Tuesday, Adam Schefter reported, “Vikings had at least two undrafted free agents make their 53-man roster: QB Max Brosmer and G Joe Huber.”
It appears that Brosmer’s story in the State of 10,000 Lakes is proceeding.
Early in training camp, he barely received snaps as the coaching staff wanted to get the other guys up to speed, but in the very few opportunities, Brosmer showed enough to turn some reporters’ heads.
In the preseason, Vikings fans finally got a look at their young signal-caller, whom they still remember from his year at the University of Minnesota, and he was fantastic in all three games, operating the offense at a high level with accuracy, poise, and decision-making.
Brosmer was responsible for both passing touchdowns in the Vikings’ preseason efforts. Neither of the other passers registered one. The young QB spent his first five college campaigns at New Hampshire (they only played one game in 2020, and he missed 2021 because of a torn ACL). In 36 games, he passed for 8,713 yards and 70 touchdowns.
His final college season, famously, took place in Minnesota, where he tabulated 17 touchdowns and five interceptions while leading the Golden Gophers to an 8-5 record. He showed that he could compete at a higher level, and he proved that another step is possible in the preseason.
Head coach O’Connell told the media after the third preseason game: “He’s one of those guys that can go out and apply the thinking really fast as he progresses through our system and through games, so his ownership of really not getting a lot of reps early – didn’t get a lot of work in the spring – to be able to hit the ground in the way he did with his opportunities, and training camp gave him more opportunities, culminating with tonight, getting the chance to start the last preseason game.”
The Vikings now have three quarterbacks under contract. McCarthy is the unquestioned starter. A combination of Brosmer and free-agent addition Carson Wentz will back him up.
Wentz’s experience of 94 starts will likely give him the edge, but Brosmer can’t be completely ruled out from the QB2 race because of his excellent preseason play and familiarity with the offense. He had a four-month head start over Wentz.
Either way, Brosmer will stick around and could be Minnesota’s long-term backup in the future.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.