Minnesota Vikings News & Rumors

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/15/24

Today’s NFL practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

  • Signed: T Spencer Rolland

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Amos is far-removed from his days as a full-time starter in the NFC North. With Talanoa Hufanga on injured reserve, though, and only three safeties on the active roster, Amos could have an opportunity to make an impact in the Bay Area.

Texans To Trade Cam Akers To Vikings

While not quite on the level of the two receiver trades from earlier Tuesday, the Vikings and Texans will collaborate on another swap during a busy NFL day. Cam Akers is on the move again.

The Texans are trading the fifth-year running back to the Vikings, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. This will mark the second year Minnesota has acquired Akers in-season; the team brought him in from Los Angeles early last season.

Akers and a 2026 seventh-round pick are going to the Vikings, with Pelissero adding a 2026 sixth-rounder — as part of a standard pick-swap agreement — is coming back to the Texans. With Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce missing time this season, Akers had worked as a fill-in starter. Mixon and Pierce returned in Week 6, and pass-down specialist Dare Ogunbowale is on Houston’s roster as well. This gave the AFC South leaders some flexibility, and it will lead to Akers heading back to the Twin Cities.

The former Rams second-round pick will head to a team with a recent running back issue, as Aaron Jones left the Vikes’ Week 5 game due to a hip injury. This deal is not a reflection on Jones’ availability, per Pelissero, as the starter has a shot to play coming out of Minnesota’s bye week. Akers will join Jones and reunite with Ty Chandler in the Vikings’ backfield. Akers, 25, is tied to a one-year, $1.18MM deal. With five Vikings games in the books, the team will add Akers at less than $1MM in base salary.

Akers’ previous Minnesota stay did not end well. The former Super Bowl starter suffered the second Achilles tear of his career. While the first of those injuries sidetracked Akers in L.A., he has rebounded from the second one to play a role for a division-leading team. He signed with the Texans just before training camp. As Akers heads to another, he will bring a 40-carry, 147-yard, one-touchdown stat line with him. The Texans used Akers as a two-game starter, with Ogunbowale receiving extensive time as well. Akers caught a touchdown pass against the Vikings in Week 2 — the Texans’ only points in a 34-7 loss — and The Athletic’s Alec Lewis notes the Florida State alum was popular with the coaching staff last season.

This move may well be a lateral transition for Akers, who would top out as a Vikings third-stringer if Jones returns to full strength soon. Jones not being ready for Week 7, however, would give the Vikings a need behind Chandler. Akers totaled 208 scrimmage yards and a touchdown in six Vikings games last season, rejoining ex-Rams OC Kevin O’Connell in Minneapolis. The 5-0 Vikes will bring him back for some insurance.

Vikings Open G Dalton Risner’s Practice Window

Dalton Risner is nearing a return to action. The Vikings guard had his practice window opened on Monday, per a team announcement.

The move allows Risner to resume practicing. He must be activated in the next 21 days to avoid reverting to season-ending injured reserve. Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell indicated at the beginning of the month Risner would not be ready to practice when first eligible, but he has clearly made progress since then.

The 29-year-old landed on IR in August, a move which guaranteed he would be sidelined for at least the first four games of the season. The Vikings took advantage of the NFL’s new offseason IR rules by designating him for return ahead of roster cutdowns. Doing so prevented the team for needing to name him to the initial roster, although he did use up one of the eight available in-season activations for the campaign.

Once Risner is back in the picture, he will offer a starting-caliber option up front for the undefeated Vikings. The former Bronco started each of his 62 appearances with Denver, and after plenty of time on the open market he landed a one-year Vikings pact. The former second-rounder wound up making 15 appearances during his debut Minnesota season, including 11 starts.

Once again, a longer free agent spell than expected ensued, but Risner ultimately re-signed with the Vikings. The terms of that pact – one year, $2.41MM – certainly do not guarantee a first-team role in 2024, and Ed Ingram and Blake Brandel have handled guard duties to date. Risner could look to unseat the latter once he if back to full health, although Brandel’s 2024 PFF grade (64.5) is the highest of his career.

Minnesota’s offense has performed better than expected with Sam Darnold at quarterback this season, and his market value has received a notable boost given how things currently stand. Bringing Risner back into the fold will help that unit once he is activated.

NFL Injury Updates: Harbaugh, Jones, Gray

The Chargers experienced a strange scare during today’s win over the division-rival Broncos when head coach Jim Harbaugh left the field for a short period due to what was reported as “illness.” According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Harbaugh informed reporters that he went to the locker room to deal with an atrial flutter episode.

AJ Ross of NFL on CBS spoke with Harbaugh, who told her “he was dealing with arrhythmia…something he’s been dealing with on and off for a while.” If that’s the case, it’s likely something his employers were aware of, prompting the team to have a plan in place for situations like today.

The heart episode appears to be a non-issue for now, as Harbaugh returned to the sideline and continued coaching his team to victory. That said, if the issue persists, Harbaugh’s presence on the sideline may not be guaranteed moving forward. If the new head coach continues to miss any game time, the Chargers will need to make sure their order of operations behind Harbaugh is effective.

Here are a few other injury updates from around the NFL:

  • Vikings running back Aaron Jones left last weekend’s win over the Jets early with a hip injury. According to Schefter, Jones is going to be week-to-week because of the hip issue. Luckily for Minnesota, the team had a bye in Week 6, allowing their veteran rusher to rest for a little over a week. He reportedly avoided major injury, but his practice report this week will show just how lucky he was.
  • Titans rookie linebacker Cedric Gray was designated to return from injured reserve earlier this week. Tennessee has no plans to rush the 24-year-old back from IR, though, as Jim Wyatt of TennesseeTitans.com reports that the team plans to utilize most of Gray’s 21-day practice window before activating him. There’s always a chance that Gray is not able to return after the 21 days and is returned to IR for the remainder of the year.

Injured Reserve Return Tracker

This offseason brought a change in how teams could construct their 53-man rosters while retaining flexibility with injured players. Clubs were permitted to attach return designations to two players (in total) placed on IR or an NFI list before setting their initial rosters.

In prior years, anyone placed on IR before a team set its initial 53-man roster could not be activated in-season. All August 27 IR- or NFI-return designations, however, already count against teams’ regular-season limit of eight. This introduces more strategy for teams, who will be tasked with determining which players injured in-season will factor into activation puzzles as the year progresses.

All players designated for return on August 27 are eligible to be activated beginning in Week 5, though any player placed on IR after a team set its initial 53 has not been designated for return and therefore does not yet count toward a club’s eight-activation limit. Players who receive return designations beginning in Week 5 will be added to this list.

Here is how teams’ activation puzzles look going into Week 9:

Arizona Cardinals

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 6

Atlanta Falcons

Designated for return from IR (August 27): 

Designated for return: 

Activated:

Activations remaining: 6

Baltimore Ravens

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 5

Buffalo Bills

Designated for return from IR (August 27):

Eligible for activation:

Activations remaining: 6

Carolina Panthers

Designated for return from reserve/non-football injury list:

Designated for return from IR:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 5

Chicago Bears

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 5

Cincinnati Bengals

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 5

Cleveland Browns

Reverted to season-ending IR:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 2

Dallas Cowboys

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 7

Denver Broncos

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 4

Detroit Lions

Designated for return from IR (August 27):

Eligible for activation:

Activations remaining: 7

Green Bay Packers

Eligible for activation:

Activated: 

  • DL Jonathan Ford (Week 8)

Activations remaining: 7

Houston Texans

Designated for return from IR (August 27):

Designated for return:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 5

Indianapolis Colts

Designated for return from IR (August 27):

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 5

Jacksonville Jaguars

Designated for return from IR (August 27):

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 4

Kansas City Chiefs

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 7

Las Vegas Raiders

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 7

Los Angeles Chargers

Activated:

Activations remaining: 6

Los Angeles Rams

Designated for return from IR (August 27):

  • OL K.T. Leveston

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 4

Miami Dolphins

Designated for return from IR (August 27):

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 5

Minnesota Vikings

Designated for return from IR (August 27):

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 6

New England Patriots

Designated for return from reserve/non-football illness list (August 27):

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 6

New Orleans Saints

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 7

New York Giants

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 7

New York Jets

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 6

Philadelphia Eagles

Designated for return from IR (August 27):

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 6

Pittsburgh Steelers

Designated for return from IR (August 27):

  • OL Dylan Cook

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 6

San Francisco 49ers

Eligible for activation: 

Designated for return:

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 6

Seattle Seahawks

Activated:

Activations remaining: 6

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Eligible for activation:

Designated for return:

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 6

Tennessee Titans

Eligible for activation:

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 7

Washington Commanders

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 6

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/11/24

The NFL’s minor moves to close out the week:

Atlanta Falcons

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

King made a long-awaited return to the NFL this season. After sitting out of the 2022 NFL season for personal reasons and tearing his Achilles tendon in the ramp up to the 2023 season, King hadn’t been seen in the NFL in over two years. The former second-round pick out of Washington has always had talent, but injury issues have kept him consistently off the field. In 2019, the only year in which King missed fewer than five games, the talented defensive back recorded five interceptions.

Despite a standout performance on defense in Atlanta this offseason, King has seen very few snaps on defense in the regular season. King was praised for his defensive versatility throughout camp and the preseason, but thus far, the Falcons had mostly utilized the veteran on special teams.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/8/24

Tuesday’s minor moves around the league:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

Tennessee Titans

Kirkland is out for the season due to a biceps tear, head coach Zac Taylor said on Monday. That injury resulted in the addition of Andrew Stueber off Atlanta’s practice squad, a move which became official today. Kirkland, a former UDFA, made a pair of appearances this season, seeing sparse usage on offense and special teams.

Free Agent Stock Watch: Sam Darnold

The Vikings are the NFC’s only remaining undefeated team, and their play on offense has been a key factor in that early-season success. Specifically, the performance of quarterback Sam Darnold has raised eyebrows given how he was expected to perform in 2024.

Selected third overall in 2018 – after the Jets traded up from the No. 6 slot – Darnold faced the task of becoming a franchise passer. That has proven to be the case for Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson (selected later in the first round that year), but he was unable to develop into a long-term answer under center in New York. The USC product was immediately used in a first-team role but compiled a 13-25 record while completing less than 60% of his passes in the process.

The Jets elected to reset at quarterback in 2021, the year they selected Zach Wilson to start what turned out to be another unsuccessful run at finding a solution at the QB spot. Darnold was dealt to the Panthers for a package of three draft picks, including a second-rounder the following year. That agreement showed he still had some value, albeit far less than what New York originally invested in him. Darnold’s first Panthers season resulted in another losing record along with a 9:13 touchdown-to-interception ratio, however.

Baker Mayfield was added during the subsequent offseason, and 2018’s top selection handled starting duties to begin the 2022 campaign. One week before Mayfield’s release request was granted, though, Darnold took back over as the Panthers’ starter. Carolina won four of six games down the stretch with the latter posting a triple-digit passer rating four times. The team was committed to a more permanent solution than Darnold, a pending free agent, though. Carolina therefore embarked on the blockbuster deal which yielded the No. 1 pick (Bryce Young), something which – to put it mildly – has not gone according to plan so far.

Darnold took a one-year deal in 2023 to serve as the 49ers’ backup. Brock Purdy remained healthy throughout the season, though, so Darnold’s only start game in a meaningless Week 18 contest. His San Francisco tenure did not include eye-popping statistics, but it was sufficient to draw interest from the Broncos and Commanders before a Vikings pact was worked out. The one-year agreement carried a $10MM value, second only to Gardner Minshew in terms of pacts for signal-callers taking backup/bridge starter pacts.

First-round rookie J.J. McCarthy entered training camp behind Darnold on the depth chart, putting the latter on track to handle first-team duties early in the 2024 season. McCarthy’s meniscus tear shut him down for the campaign, however, leaving Darnold in place to guide an offense no longer led by Kirk Cousins. Through one month, things have gone very well without Pro Bowl tight end T.J. Hockenson even being in the picture.

Darnold leads the league in touchdown passes (11), yards per attempt (9.6) and passer rating (118.9) early in the campaign. Those figures – along with a career-high 68.9 completion percentage – helped him earn the NFC’s Offensive Player of the Month award for September. If that run of form can continue, a healthy free agent spell will be in store next offseason.

Multiple front office personnel predicted to Outkick’s Armando Salguero the Vikings will make a push to retain Darnold in 2025 despite McCarthy being attached to his rookie contract for the foreseeable future. Minnesota’s offense continuing to thrive would assist Darnold’s bargaining power considerably (not to mention help head coach Kevin O’Connell’s chances of landing an extension alongside general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah). A strong showing could prove Darnold to be the league’s next Mayfield – that is, a passer turning a one-year gig into a multi-year commitment from his team. Mayfield seemed to be on track for free agency before he agreed to a three-year, $100MM Buccaneers pact (including $40MM guaranteed) this past March.

Given his age, Darnold could command a similar deal provided his encouraging performance holds up over the coming months. McCarthy’s presence would complicate considerations on the Vikings’ part with respect to a deal covering 2025 and (quite possibly) multiple years after that for Darnold, but as always a number of teams will be in the market for a veteran passer in free agency. Any which do not figure to have a high first-round draft pick could make a notable push on a multi-year offer.

The executives Salguero spoke with agreed an asking price from Darnold’s camp breaching the $50MM-per-year mark (as nine recent QB deals have) would be untenable. An AAV closer to the high $30MM- or low $40MM-point may be on the table, though, depending on structure and guarantees of course. Especially if Justin Fields lands a new Steelers agreement – something which certainly seems feasible at this point – Darnold would loom as the clear top free agent option amongst veteran passers for Minnesota or any number of other teams.

A regression over the coming games would not leave Darnold in danger of losing his starting spot but it would obviously hinder his market value. As things currently stand, however, he is on track to benefit greatly from his mid-career turnaround.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/5/24

Saturday’s gameday elevations and other minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Washington Commanders

Mariota returned to practice on Wednesday, which was the earliest point at which he could be designated for return. As a result, it comes as little surprise he has been brought back onto Washington’s active roster. The 30-year-old is in his first season with the Commanders, and today’s move paves the way for him to handle backup duties moving forward.

Ngakoue remained on the free agent market into the start of the regular season. He was not connected to a Ravens reunion, but one took place last week. The journeyman sack artist had a brief spell with Baltimore in 2020, and he posted three sacks in 11 games. Ngakoue, 29, had one-and done campaigns in Vegas, Indianapolis and Chicago before taking a Ravens practice squad deal. He will make his debut tomorrow and aim to provide depth along the edge.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/3/24

Thursday’s minor transactions from around the NFL:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Phillips’ spot on the 53-man roster was filled today when Miami signed outside linebacker Tyus Bowser from Seattle’s practice squad.

The young running back in Baltimore will have his 21-day practice window opened as he attempts to come back from injury after being placed on injured reserve the day of the season opener.