Vikings Sign All-Star Defender
On Monday, the Minnesota Vikings signed eight practice squad players to the offseason roster. It’s still a long way until the 90-man roster limit is reached. A day later, the front office acquired a standout defender from the Canadian Football League.
Vikings Add CFL Standout
Jaylon Hutchings from the Calgary Stampeders was signed to a futures contract, according to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson.
Hutchings is a 26-year-old defensive tackle with a 2025 CFL All-Star nomination on his resume. He recorded eight QB sacks (ranking 5th in the league) and 39 tackles in the 2025 campaign and is listed at 6’0″ and 304 lbs. PFF graded him as the best interior defender in the CFL last season. In fact, his 90.7 was the highest grade of any non-quarterback in the entire league.
PFF’s Bryson Vesnaver nominated him in November as the league’s most outstanding defender. He wrote:
“It’s rare for an interior defender in the CFL to be equally as good at run defense as he is at pass rushing. But that’s exactly what Hutchings did this season. As a run defender, Hutchings recorded 41 total tackles, the second-most among non-linebackers. His 19 run stops were the eighth-most in the league. He finished with the fourth-best PFF run-defense grade in the CFL at 86.7.
As a pass rusher, Hutchings recorded eight sacks, eight hits and 40 hurries. His 56 total pressures were the fifth-most in the league, and 13 more than the second-best interior defender. His 86.4 PFF pass-rushing grade ranked sixth in the league.
What’s most impressive is that Hutchings did all of this while being double-teamed at the second-highest rate in the league. Hutchings faced a double- or even triple-team on 59.24% of his snaps. Teams tried their hardest to remove him from the play, and they failed week after week.“
Minnesota’s new defender went undrafted in 2024. Coming out of Texas Tech, he joined the Chicago Bears during the preseason, but he was axed a couple of weeks later. That’s when he crossed the border to compete in the CFL.
Hutchings had a remarkably long college career in the Big 12, registering 61 appearances. He made 193 tackles, 26 tackles for loss, and 11 sacks in those contests.
The Red Raiders also used him as a short-yardage back a few times. His three rushes resulted in ten yards and a touchdown. A knee injury suffered late in the 2023 season knocked him out of his final college season and he missed most pre-draft workouts. That certainly didn’t improve his draft prospects.
The Vikings made a comparable move a couple of years ago when they signed Jalen Redmond in the 2024 offseason. He earned a roster spot and then received playing time under Brian Flores. In his second season, Redmond exploded onto the scene as a Pro Bowl-caliber defender.
Initially, Redmond went undrafted, too. He didn’t have a knee injury that bothered him, but had to deal with blood clots in college. After failing to secure a spot with the Panthers, he went to the UFL, from where the Vikings snatched him.
On the current roster, the Vikings have Redmond and the two veterans, Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave. Those two have lucrative deals the Vikings might want to ditch in the next few weeks and months, given the current cap crunch.
Levi Drake Rodriguez and Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, two draftees from the last two seasons, have provided depth in 2025, and their roles could expand with more experience under their belts. Taki Taimani was signed to the 53-man roster ahead of the season finale, while rookie Elijah Williams was placed on IR. Williams, an undrafted try-out player, was a surprising preseason star.
Hutchings will join that group, hoping to follow a similar developmental path to Redmond’s over the last two seasons.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.