I put the quotes around the word “final” in the headline because every team in the league will be sifting through the nearly 2,000 players who were waived in the last 48 hours and a few may end up bumping someone off the roster as a result. Those veteran players who were released are eligible to sign with any team, but players with less than four years of NFL experience are subject to waiver claims, which are allocated based on the previous season’s finishing order. The team with the worst 2016 record has top priority for waiver claims and the current Super Bowl champs have lowest priority. So, for example, Cleveland could claim up to 53 players off the waiver wire, and would be awarded with every one of them. The Vikings are near the middle of the pack for waiver priority. At noon Eastern time on Sunday, teams are informed if their waiver claims have been granted and after 1:00pm, all teams can begin signing eligible players to their 10-man practice squads.
Most of the players who didn’t make the 53-man roster were not expected to, but one player not only was expected to, he was a starter: offensive guard Alex Boone was released only one year into his four-year contract. Boone had not been playing as well as hoped, but few people expected him to be cut. His release means the team takes a $3.4 million hit (the guaranteed portion of his salary), but also frees up another $3.3 million under the salary cap. Arif Hasan found the cut “baffling“.
Until the waiver wire results are announced, here is the Vikings roster for 2017:
| Position | Starter(s) | Backup(s) | On the bubble | Notes | IR/PUP/NFI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OL |
RT Mike Remmers 72 (FA) RG Joe Berger 61 C Pat Elflein 65 (R) LG Nick Easton 62 LT Riley Reiff 71 (FA) |
RT Jeremiah Sirles 78 LG Danny Isidora 63 (R) T Aviante Collins 76 (UDFA) LT Rashod Hill 69 |
|
Reiff signed on first day of free agency. Remmers signed on second day of free agency. Elflein drafted in third round. Fett waived to make roster space for wide receiver Michael Floyd. Tagaloa signed, 16 May. Arturo Uzdavinis signed 24 July, waived 26 July. |
|
| QB | Sam Bradford 8 |
Case Keenum 7 (FA) Teddy Bridgewater 5 (PUP) |
Taylor Heinicke 6 (Waived/Injured) |
Lunt waived, 28 July. Leidner signed, 20 August. |
Bridgewater injured 30 August, 2016 in non-contact drill during practice. Placed on IR 31 August. Appeared at first OTA in May, but not medically cleared. Placed on PUP list, 26 July. If he spends the first 6 weeks of the regular season on the PUP, his contract will toll for 2018 (but the players’ union and Bridgewater’s agent may contest that, if it happens). Heinicke must pass through waivers before being added to the IR list. |
| TE | Kyle Rudolph 82 |
David Morgan 89 Bucky Hodges 84 (R) |
|
Truesdell signed after veteran’s combine, 30 March. |
|
| RB | Dalvin Cook 33 (R) |
Jerick McKinnon 21 Latavius Murray 25 (FA) |
Bishop Sankey 42 (IR) |
Cook drafted out of Florida State with the 41st pick overall (2nd round). Murray had ankle surgery before the draft. Hill signed after first preseason game, 12 August. |
Sankey tore his ACL during the first preseason game against Buffalo, 10 August. |
| FB | C.J. Ham 30 |
Ham switched from RB to FB in 2017. |
|||
| WR |
Stefon Diggs 14 Adam Thielen 19 |
Jarius Wright 17 Michael Floyd 18 (FA) (SUSP) Laquon Treadwell 11 Stacy Coley 13 (R) Rodney Adams 12 (R) |
R.J. Shelton 83 (UDFA) (IR) |
Matthews signed 30 March, released 30 May to open roster spot for safety Tommy Armstrong. Floyd signed 10 May on a 1-year, $1.5M contract (could increase to $6M with incentives). Floyd will serve a 4-game suspension to start the 2017 season and won’t count against the 53-player limit for that period. Böhringer may be eligible to be carried as an “extra” international player on the practice squad (but I don’t think he had that status last season). |
Shelton injured during final preseason game, moved to IR 1 September. |
| DL |
RDE Everson Griffen 97 NT Linval Joseph 98 UT Tom Johnson 92 (IR in 2016) LDE Danielle Hunter 99 |
LDE Brian Robison 96 NT Shamar Stephen 93 DT Jaleel Johnson 94 (R) DE Stephen Weatherly 91 DE Tashawn Bower 64 (UDFA) UT Sharif Floyd 73 (NFI) |
DE Datone Jones 95 (FA) (IR) |
Jaleel Johnson drafted in the fourth round. Chrichton waived 24 March. DuBose waived, 16 May. Sutton signed, 17 May (Toby Johnson waived to make roster space for the signing). Kidder waived, 21 July. Clements signed 21 July. |
Sharif Floyd placed on the NFI list to start training camp, 24 July. Jones added to IR at cut-down, 2 September. |
| LB |
MLB Eric Kendricks 54 SLB Anthony Barr 55 LB Ben Gedeon 42 (R) |
WLB Emmanuel Lamur 59 MLB Kentrell Brothers 40 Eric Wilson 50 (UDFA) |
|
Davis signed 28 July. Washington waived, 29 July. Sankey signed, 29 July, waived 20 August. |
Washington added to PUP list, 24 July, waived 29 July. |
| CB |
LCB Xavier Rhodes 29 RCB Trae Waynes 26 NCB Terence Newman 23 |
NCB Mackensie Alexander 20 LCB Marcus Sherels 35 NCB Antone Exum Jr. 32 CB Tramaine Brock |
|
Sinkfield signed 30 March (former Vikings WR, switched positions after CFL experience). Brown signed, 26 July. Exum was listed at safety until this season. Brock obtained in trade with Seattle, 1 September. |
|
| S |
FS Harrison Smith 22 SS Andrew Sendejo 34 |
FS Anthony Harris 41 SS Jayron Kearse 27 |
|
Armstrong signed 30 May, released 16 June. Tocho was drafted as a CB, but switched to S for OTAs. Exum used to be a safety has been getting reps at nickel corner this preseason. |
|
| P | Ryan Quigley 4 (FA) | ||||
| K | Kai Forbath 2 | ||||
| LS | Kevin McDermott 47 | ||||
| PR | Marcus Sherels 35* | Stacey Coley 13* | |||
| KR | Jerick McKinnon 21* | Marcus Sherels 35* |
* Already listed on roster at main position.
Colour coding: Free agent (or acquired in trade), Drafted in 2017, Undrafted free agent in 2017, Non-Football Injury, Physically Unable to Perform, Suspended, or Injured Reserve, Waived, released, or left team.
