Vikings Pull the Ripcord Just as Defender Announced Commitment to Roster Battle
Safe to say that fourth-year linebacker Brian Asamoah had long been viewed as a Vikings cut candidate.
In fact, one could have persuasively argued that seeing him on the final roster would have been more surprising than if he were allowed to depart. What was unexpected was merely that he got waived so early. The Vikings pulled the ripcord on the fourth-year defender earlier in the week, leading to a quick claim from the Tennessee Titans.
Recently, Darren Wolfson took some time to chat with the 3rd-Round defender at TCO Performance Center. Wolfson directly gets into the linebacker’s status with the team, asking if the upcoming season feels like a major one. Asamoah handles the questions with aplomb, noting that he’s working to improve no matter what’s taking place surrounding his contract and is looking to help the team win.
Not too long afterwards, Minnesota opted to move on from the linebacker.
Vikings Pulled the Ripcord on Young Linebacker
Start off by considering what Mr. Asamoah had to say.
When asked about being in a contract year, Asamoah offered an even-keeled answer: “It’s just another year in my book to play football, but I mean it is my last one on my contract, like you were saying, so we’ll see how it goes. But I focus on what I can focus on and control what I can control. A lot things are outside of your realm, but I think, I leave that to God, I just focus on what I can do on that green grass.”
Brian Asamoah’s words got relayed on August 11th. On August 12th, the Vikings announced the decision to waive the defender. The Titans then picked up the defender off of waivers on August 13th.
So, a whirlwind. And the wild part is that Wolfson’s point still stands: Mr. Asamoah is still moving into a contract year. If he performs well as a Titan, he could position himself for a nice payday on the open market in March of 2026. If, in contrast, he struggles, then the offers are likely to be modest.
Built like a large safety at 6’0″ and 226 pounds, Brian Asamoah seems likely to have a job on specials (at minimum). He moves well, running a 4.56 forty. The time isn’t earth shattering, but we’re talking about speed that’s coming in ahead of Eric Kendricks, Anthony Barr, Jordan Hicks, and various other notable linebackers with recent connections to Minnesota.
Being able to be a difference-maker on defense, though, is going to be what makes the difference in a future payday. Consider the simple reality that the fourth-year player has put in 188 snaps on defense versus 802 snaps on special teams across his career.
Coming out of college, Asamoah was well regarded, ironically getting compared to Kamu Grugier-Hill by the NFL website leading into the 2022 NFL Draft. One thought from Lance Zierlein: “See-ball, get-ball linebacker with an itchy, twitchy trigger and explosive pursuit speed. Asamoah is adequate at reading keys and diagnosing the action with quickness. His pursuit paths to the football are aggressive but they’re lacking in technique to maintain his gap integrity.”
And some more insight: “His playing style is likely to have him around the football more often than not, but consistency in finishing tackles could be an issue for him in the pros. He’s athletic in pass coverage and could stand out on special teams. Asamoah is a 3-4 weakside inside linebacker or a 4-3 Will with the potential to find starting reps down the road.”
In Tennessee, Brian Asamoah will look to be the “twitchy” linebacker who can offer his team “explosive” football. He’s still only 25.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.
