A Week Of Roster Tweaks

The NFL roster cutdown to 53 players is next Tuesday. The week before is an odd time to make a series of roster tweaks. A handful of practices and a single preseason game provides so little time for the new players to make a first impression, any impression. That didn’t stop the Minnesota Vikings made a series of tweaks to the roster this week. 

Signed this week:

Stephon Gilmore, CB

Justin Hall, WR

Matt Cindric, OL

Chuck Filiaga, OL

Mo Ibrahim, RB

Acquired via Waivers:

Neal Johnson, TE

The first signing of the week probably doesn’t qualify as a roster tweak. It’s so much more than a tweak. Stephon Gilmore was signed to be a starter. He was added to the roster to be a difference-maker. The addition of Gilmore is significant and more like a signing that’s typically done in March. The only difference being that the soon-to-be 34-year-old got to skip all of the offseason workouts and training camp. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores and defensive backs coach Daronte Jones will put Gilmore on an island and hopefully lock down one side of the field for the entire season. He doesn’t need offseason workouts and training camp to do that. He’s been doing it for the past decade. The hope is that he has another season in him. 

To make room for the new players the Vikings waived the following players:

Seth Vernon, P

Ty James, WR

Jacobi Francis, CB

Waived with injury designations:

NaJee Thompson, CB

Jeremy Flax, OT

Trey Knox, TE

This week has seen the Vikings add six new players and six players leave. There are a variety of reasons for these late-in-the-process transactions. The Gilmore signing brought in a starter at a clear position of need. Signing Matt Cindric was curious in that the Vikings had originally signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Cal (Go Bears!). He was then released as a roster tweak in the spring. Adding him now to replace an injured Jeremy Flax gives the Vikings a familiar, healthy offensive lineman for the final preseason game. Acquiring tight end Noah Johnson off waivers and releasing Trey Knox looks like another swap of a healthy player for a possibly injured player. Flipping receivers Ty James for Justin Hall is a curiosity. Adding former Golden Gophers Chuck Filiaga and Mo Ibrahim gives the Vikings an extra offensive lineman and running back for the final preseason game. With quarterback Matt Corral leading all of these late roster additions, the final moments of tomorrow’s preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles could get pretty ugly. 

The departing player that stands out is NaJee Thompson. As a rookie last season, he emerged a key player and difference-maker on special teams. An injury kept him out of nearly all of the offseason workouts and the entirety of training camp. He was reportedly cleared to return to the field this week but the injury flared up again. His Vikings departure could be brief. If he clears waivers, it’s expected that he’ll return to the Vikings and be placed on injured reserve. We’ll see if the other players released with injury designations, Jeremy Flax and Trey Knox, also return in the same fashion.