Vikings Say Goodbye to 28-Year-Old Defender
Lately, the quarterback chaos has been dominating the conversation in the Twin Cities (at least within football discussions).
Mr. J.J. McCarthy is going to be the Vikings QB1 yet again, as expected. That reality comes off the season-ending injury to Carson Wentz, someone who understood what he was getting himself into. And then there was the decision to add John Wolford as a depth passer for the practice squad. Within all of that has been the Vikings’ decision to allow a practice squad defender to venture back into NFL free agency.
Vikings Say Goodbye to K’Von Wallace
The team’s official social media offered the announcement: “The #Vikings have released S K’Von Wallace from the practice squad.”
And just like that, the Vikings see one safety taken away from the roster orbit. Note, as well, that the roster shuffling also included the move to re-welcome Ben Sims, a depth tight end who got his career started in Minnesota before hopping over to Wisconsin to do some work as a Packer. He’ll be jostling with TE3 Ben Yurosek for Sunday work.
In the end, Mr. Wallace didn’t earn any game reps in Minnesota.
Chosen at No. 127 back in the 2020 NFL Draft — the same event where someone named Justin Jefferson got scooped up at No. 22 — K’Von Wallace was an Eagle to begin his career. The employment with Philadelphia lasted for all of 2020, 2021, and 2022. In 2023, Wallace’s time got chopped up.
What began as another season as an Eagle gave way to an opportunity with the Cardinals. There was then a chance to work as a Titan, a Seahawk, a Giant, and then as a Viking.
Wallace offers pretty good size at 5’11” and 205 pounds. He ran a respectable 4.53 forty while tossing up 18 reps on the bench press. Being able to help on specials — where he has 966 career snaps — may end up being the key to his next NFL contract. A depth player who can’t help on special teams isn’t going to last.
As per usual, Minnesota’s safeties are earning a pile of snaps.
The trio of Josh Metellus, Harrison Smith, and Theo Jackson are getting most of the chances on defense. Pretty soon, the Vikings could opt to shuffle things, dropping Smith into the box while tasking Jay Ward, the S4, with playing deep. Alternatively, the time could be coming for Smith to fade into a depth job (though that will be a borderline blasphemous thought for some who follow Minnesota football).
Otherwise, the roster boasts Tavierre Thomas, a veteran who has proven to be a menace on specials. His pursuit and tackling for Matt Daniels are excellent. Combined with Tai Felton, Thomas is central to the field position battle within football’s forgotten phase.
At 3-4, the Vikings are getting dangerously close to seeing the season slip away. Being a single game under .500 isn’t an outright disaster but the NFC is ultra competitive. Currently, Minnesota is sitting in twelfth place in the conference. Out of four NFC North teams, Minnesota finds itself in fourth.
The Vikings, in other words, need to turn things around in a hurry. Depth safety K’Von Wallace doesn’t appear to be part of the plan for the turnaround.
