Vikings Show Once-Promising Corner the Door
The Minnesota Vikings have made some strange roster moves in the past few months. One example is the trade of third-year defender Mekhi Blackmon to the Indianapolis Colts. Since then, the roster has been thin at cornerback. On Thursday, the Vikings made that problem even worse.
Vikings Show Once-Promising Corner the Door
A cornerback shortage isn’t new under Brian Flores. The defensive coordinator had only four cornerbacks in his first season in 2023. This year, the franchise also entered the campaign with four cornerbacks. Well, suddenly that number looks like a luxury.
The organization announced Thursday that sophomore Dwight McGlothern had been waived.
There has not yet been a corresponding move to fill the 53-man roster. One theory is that center Ryan Kelly will take that open spot, as he’s working back from his second concussion of the year. He currently doesn’t count towards the 53-man roster limit because he is on IR. The Vikings opened his 21-day practice window last week and he was a full participant on Wednesday. A return to the lineup is possible as soon as Sunday; the Vikings would just have to activate him.
While Kelly’s return is undoubtedly good news, the cornerback depth is quite the nightmare situation. The Vikings employ starters Byron Murphy and Isaiah Rodgers, and Fabian Moreau was signed from the practice squad to the active roster. Jeff Okudah is on IR and will miss at least one more game.
Yet, despite the shortage, the Vikings were ready to move on from McGlothern, who strangely has never gotten much of a shot in the regular season. When Okudah went down, they went straight to practice-squadder Moreau.
It’s fair to wonder why they even went into the season with him as the fourth cornerback on the team if they didn’t trust him on defense and knew about his limited ability on special teams. McGlothern appeared in eight games this season, playing 31 snaps on defense and 16 on special teams. In his debut season, he logged 19 defensive snaps and 17 on special teams in five games.
The defender was signed out of Arkansas after the 2024 draft. He started his college career at LSU but transferred after two years. When he was announced as an undrafted signing, McGlothern didn’t need long to be an intriguing dark horse for a coveted roster spot and he confirmed that buzz with some flashy plays in the spring programs and in training camp.
A strong preseason later, McGlothern indeed earned a spot on the roster, and the Vikings kept him throughout his rookie season despite barely needing his services. The coaching staff must have seen some promise back then.
In the past offseason, he was pretty much the only remaining corner, as Murphy, Moreau, Shaq Griffin, and Stephon Gilmore were all set to become unrestricted free agents, and the Vikings could’ve elevated him at least to a rotational role.
Instead, Murphy was re-signed, and Rodgers was acquired. Okudah joined as the new CB3, and only crumbs were left over for McGlothern, Mekhi Blackmon, and other roster hopefuls like Zemaiah Vaughn.
He once again showed his coverage prowess in the preseason, although his second one wasn’t as strong as his first.
Overall, McGlothern still has decent numbers in his six-game sample in August, having been targeted a total of 13 times over the last two preseasons for eight catches and 65 yards. He also grabbed an interception, and the passer rating allowed of 42.1 is about as good as just throwing the ball in the dirt.
For some reason, the Vikings didn’t test him in the regular season, not even when Okudah got hurt (twice).
Maybe some other team that liked his preseason tape and hoped the Vikings would waive him in August will pounce now and claim him off waivers. If he’s going unclaimed, Minnesota could re-sign him to the practice squad.
On that practice squad, the club has three cornerbacks stashed: Zemaiah Vaughn, Tyrek Funderburk, and Shemar Bartholomew.
McGlothern will turn 24 in February.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.