Here are Friday’s minor moves:
Cincinnati Bengals
Minnesota Vikings
San Francisco 49ers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Vikings signed kicker Chase McLaughlin, kicker Chase McLaughlin, linebacker Hardy Nickerson, and defensive tackle Albert Huggins to the practice squad on Tuesday. With that, the Vikes have filled out their 16-man unit:
McLaughlin bounced around last year, appearing in games for the Colts, Chargers, and 49ers. He started off the 2019 season with the Vikings’ practice squad, and they’re bringing him back in 2020 to serve as extra insurance for Dan Bailey. Earlier this summer, he lost out on the Colts’ kicking job when Chris Ballard & Co. chose rookie Rodrigo Blankenship.
The Vikings have agreed to re-sign interior offensive lineman Brett Jones to a one-year, $910K deal, according to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press (Twitter link).
Minnesota acquired Jones from the Giants in 2018 after he’d started 13 games for New York the previous season. With the Vikings, Jones has been almost exclusively a reserve, as he’s made only three starts (all in 2018). He was actually released last September to make room for wide receiver Josh Docston, but was re-signed shortly thereafter. Jones, 28, ultimately appeared in only two games in 2019 before being placed on injured reserve.
Jones reportedly wanted to test the free agent market in search of a starting role. Per Tomasson, the Cowboys — who recently lost center Travis Frederick to retirement — also expressed interest in Jones before he re-upped with the Vikings. Dallas has Joe Looney and Connor McGovern on hand as options to replace Frederick, but Jones could have had a shot as the Cowboys’ pivot, as well.
Like many teams with a top-flight running back, the Vikings are in a bit of a quandary when it comes to a potential extension for Dalvin Cook. Cook has been susceptible to injury throughout his young career, but after a breakout 2019 that saw him rack up 1,135 yards and 13 TDs for the run-first Minnesota offense, we heard that the team would explore an extension for him this offseason.
Cook, 24, is now eligible for a new contract since he has three years of service time, and the $1.3MM he is due to make in 2020 — the last year of his rookie deal — is a pittance relative to his value. Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com details the pros and cons of a Cook re-up, but it sounds like GM Rick Spielman wants to keep the 2017 second-rounder in the fold for the long haul.
“Right now, we have so much ahead of us and a lot of decisions to make before free agency begins and the new league year begins, and then we look at the draft once we settle down and everything,” Spielman said. “But I consider Dalvin as one of those core group of players that we definitely want to try to keep.”
Negotiations could get complicated, but expect the Vikings to start talking with Cook’s reps not long after the draft.
Now for more out of Minnesota:
Teams may still designate players to return from IR during the playoffs, and the two NFC North squads still playing took advantage of this flexibility. Teams are designated two IR-return spots each season.
Today’s minor moves:
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
After spending the last week as a free agent, it sounds like Brett Jones is going to land back in Minnesota. Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports (via Twitter) that the veteran center is expected to re-sign with the Vikings. Jones returned to Minnesota last night, and he could be signed as soon as tomorrow.
The Vikings let go of the 28-year-old last Monday to make room for wideout Josh Doctson. At the time, Tomasson suspected that the six-year pro would end up back in Minny. The reporter’s intuition proved to be right.
Hailing from Saskatchewan, Jones spent two years in the CFL with the Calgary Stampeders, earning an All-Star nod and a league championship in 2014. He eventually made his way to the NFL after signing with the Giants in 2015. He spent the next three years with the organization, including a 2017 campaign where he started 13 of his 16 games.
Last August, Jones was traded from the Giants to the Vikings in exchange for a seventh-rounder. He started the first three games in place of Pat Elflein, and he ultimately settled into a backup role for his other 11 appearances. He re-signed with the organization this offseason on a one-year deal that could pay upwards of $1.5MM. It’s uncertain if he’ll receive a similar contract this time around.
The Vikings have agreed to sign Josh Doctson, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The Vikings initially elected to keep four receivers on their roster, but Doctson will occupy the fifth spot to support Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen, Chad Beebe, and Olabisi Johnson.
Fun fact: Doctson was selected one spot ahead of Laquon Treadwell in the 2016 draft. The Vikings dropped Treadwell over the weekend and, effectively, swapped him for Doctson.
Doctson has history with Kirk Cousins, which suggests that he could be in line for more targets than your average WR5. On the other hand, they didn’t exactly set the world on fire either – in 18 games with Cousins at QB, Doctson caught just 37 balls for 568 yards and six scores.
Doctson has started 26 games over the past two years for Washington, but this has only resulted in 79 total catches for 1,034 yards and eight touchdowns. Last year, he placed 96th out of 107 qualifying wideouts in yards per route run last season, according to Pro Football Focus.
In a corresponding move, Minnesota released center Brett Jones, though Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets that the Vikings could end up re-signing Jones at some point if he is not signed by another club.
The Vikings have re-signed center Brett Jones, per a club announcement. It’s a one-year deal with a base salary of $850K that could be worth up to $1.5MM through incentives, according to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press (on Twitter).
The Vikings acquired Jones late last summer via trade with the Giants. In his first season with the Vikes, Jones appeared in 14 games, including three starts at center. Prior to that, Jones appeared in 30 games (14 starts) across three seasons with the G-Men and won a Grey Cup title in 2014 with the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders.
The Vikings offered Jones a contract earlier this month, but he did not immediately accept. Meanwhile, center Tyler Shatley circled back to the Jaguars after visiting with the Vikings and Jones, as far as we know, did not go on any other visits. It only made sense for the two sides to reunite as the Vikings needed a backup for Pat Elflein.
Jones started the first three games of the 2018 season while Elflein was injured. He’s likely eager to start somewhere, as he did with the Giants in 2017, but he’ll serve as Elflein’s understudy for at least one more year. Jones can also play guard, which may give him another path to getting on the field.
The Vikings met with free agent interior offensive lineman Tyler Shatley on Friday, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter link). Shatley’s visit didn’t end with a deal, but an accord between the two parties is still possible, tweets Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Minnesota has not yet offered Shatley a contract, although they have proposed a pact to fellow free agent Brett Jones, per Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (Twitter link).
Minnesota is set to experience significant turnover along its offensive line. Mike Remmers and Tom Compton, each of whom played more than 75% of the Vikings’ snaps in 2018, are both gone, as is Nick Easton, who started 12 games in 2017 before missing all of last season with injury. Jones, too, is a free agent, and he’s drawn interest from the Seahawks, Eagles, Jets, and Chiefs in addition to the Vikings.
While they’ve lost several members of their front five, the Vikings have also made one addition, signing former Titans starter Josh Kline to a three-year deal worth $15.75MM. Minnesota is likely set at four of its five offensive line positions with Riley Reiff at left tackle, Pat Elflein at center, Kline at right guard, and Brian O’Neill at right tackle, but the club still needs help at left guard, where Danny Isidora is currently the projected starter.
Shatley, 27, has the ability to play both guard and center, and started 15 games for the Jaguars over the past three seasons. An undrafted free agent in 2014, Shatley played 543 snaps in Jacksonville last year, filling in at center while starter Brandon Linder was sidelined. Pro Football Focus graded Shatley as the NFL’s No. 26 center among 39 qualifiers.