Jaren Hall And Edge Depth Lead Vikings’ Cutdown Day Questions
Credit: Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK
The day is finally here. After a whole offseason of speculation, we are finally going to know the 53 names that will populate the Minnesota Vikings roster when the 3 PM Central deadline arrives. And while we could wait a few hours to see how everything shakes out, here’s a counterpoint: Who has time for that?! We gotta know now! And so we’re going to take a look at the three biggest subplots surrounding the TCO Performance Center today.
Risner Makes Finding Roster Spots Tricky
The Vikings aren’t going to have to worry about having room for Dalton Risner. Minnesota stashed the guard on IR on Monday, meaning they can leave him off the roster without exposing him to waivers.
NFL teams can do that on cutdown day… but only with two players. The Risner decision means that between him and the other likely candidate, T.J. Hockenson, the Vikings’ two IR spots are spoken for. This might cost them a player that they really like.
One of those players could be Jaren Hall. J.J. McCarthy’s injury turned Hall’s preseason from an audition for other teams into an opportunity to hang on in Minnesota. The second-year QB from BYU took advantage, going 28-for-46 on his passing attempts for 339 yards. More importantly, he tossed four touchdowns with no picks, an encouraging level of reliability from a developmental third QB.
But this is the NFL, and injuries happen. Hall exited Saturday’s preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles after a hit left him with what Kevin O’Connell dubbed “a little leg kind of issue.” Whether or not the leg injury is significant or not, it can complicate the roster situation for the Vikings, for better or worse.
A healthy Hall would probably be a lock to make the roster at this point, as O’Connell and the Vikings wouldn’t want another team to poach their third QB. The injury complicates things, especially since Risner makes stashing Hall on IR to open a spot nearly impossible.
So if Minnesota wants to free up room to lessen a tough decision elsewhere, they’ll have to roll the dice with Hall on waivers. It’s possible Hall’s leg issue deters other teams from targeting the QB, but how confident are the Vikings in that possibility? We’ll see.
Hoarding Edge Rushers?
Why might they want that extra roster spot, anyway? What would be worth losing a young quarterback they like? One reason could be to open up more space for the Vikings to cling tight to their surplus of edge rushers.
Minnesota spent the offseason rebuilding the position, bringing in headliners like Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Dallas Turner to bolster their pass rush. They join fourth-year Viking Pat Jones II, and those five players are the consensus picks to make the team.
But if the Vikings wanted to get nutty with it, they have six-to-eight edges who could probably play in the NFL. Minnesota was high on Gabriel Murphy after the Draft, signing him as a UDFA this spring. Murphy’s been hurt, but the Vikings could still want to roster him to keep him off waivers. Andre Carter II, who made the roster as a rookie UDFA in 2023, had a big game on Saturday, notching two sacks and a forced fumble. This is all on top o preseason sensation Bo Richter.
Is it worth holding onto one of those three, even at the risk of someone like Hall? Maybe. Brian Flores leaned heavily on the blitz last season, and edge rushers are as central an ingredient to blitzes as lemons are to lemonade. It’s a premium position, so it shouldn’t be a surprise at all if the Vikings go to seemingly absurd lengths to hoard their surplus.
Picking Off A Cornerback?
The Vikings got ahead of some of their decisions on Monday, announcing the release of 12 players. None of them are particularly consequential, but what the moves may do is signal that Minnesota’s roster debates won’t end with cutdown day.
Remember, waivers go both ways. As much as the Vikings are concerned about losing someone like Hall, Murphy, or Carter, Minnesota can similarly take advantage of other teams stuck in precarious roster situations.
The obvious position to target would be cornerback, even after the Vikings brought in Stephon Gilmore last week. CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards pinpoints the Eagles and San Francisco 49ers as two teams who are especially vulnerable to losing a cornerback after cutdown day.
Some of the names Edwards lists offer the size Minnesota targeted in drafting the late Khyree Jackson, whose 6-foot-4 frame would have offered size to complement a smaller corner group with 6-foot-0 Shaq Griffin, 5-foot-11 Byron Murphy, Jr., and now 6-foot-0 Gilmore.
Any player is more than their height chart, but if tall, talented DBs like 6-foot-2 Kelee Ringo (fourth-rounder 2023) or Darrell Luter Jr. (fifth round, 2023), whose 6-foot-0 frame doesn’t factor in his elite arm length, Minnesota might be compelled to pursue them.
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