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Minnesota Vikings News & Rumors

Vikings LB Cameron Smith Medically Cleared

May 30th, 2021 at 10:04am CST by Rory Parks

Vikings LB Cameron Smith might not be a household name, but his return to the practice field is still noteworthy. The 24-year-old, who missed the entire 2020 campaign due to open-heart surgery, has been medically cleared to play, as Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets.

Smith has had a tumultuous start to his pro career. Despite less than impressive measurables, his instincts and collegiate production as a four-year player at USC got the Vikings’ attention, and Minnesota selected him in the fifth round of the 2019 draft. He did not survive final cutdowns at the end of his first training camp, though he was quickly signed to the Vikes’ practice squad after he cleared waivers. He was promoted a few weeks later, saw action in a couple of games, and was waived again, only to end up back on the Vikings’ taxi squad before getting another promotion.

In all, he played five games in 2019, compiling eight tackles. Last August, during a COVID test, doctors discovered his heart condition. “COVID saved my life,” Smith said (Twitter link via Tomasson). The Vikings put him on waivers in a procedural move when they realized he would need heart surgery, and he subsequently reverted to season-ending IR (the club paid him his full $675K salary).

Now, Smith has rejoined his teammates, though he will still have an uphill battle to see significant burn on the defensive side of the ball. The Vikings are returning Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks, and Minnesota also nabbed North Carolina LB Chazz Surratt in the third round of this year’s draft. Surratt is likely the favorite to land the weakside ‘backer job alongside Barr and Kendricks, but Smith will try to push him for playing time. If nothing else, he could carve out a role on special teams.

Speaking of Barr, the four-time Pro Bowler was also back on the practice field this week, as Tomasson tweets. Barr missed all but two games of the 2020 season due to a torn pec, and he reworked his contract this offseason. He will now be eligible for free agency next March.

NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/19/21

May 19th, 2021 at 3:57pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Colts have now officially signed every member of their draft class. We’ll keep track of all the new draftees signing their rookie deals today here:

Indianapolis Colts

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Minor NFL Transactions: 5/18/21

May 18th, 2021 at 5:33pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Los Angeles Chargers

New England Patriots

  • Waived: OL Najee Toran

New Orleans Saints

  • Placed on reserve/retired list: OL Alex Hoffman
  • Re-signed: S Eric Burrell

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Signed: OT Casey Tucker

Washington Football Team

Vikings Eyed Alex Leatherwood?

May 18th, 2021 at 3:45pm CST by Sam Robinson
  • Continuing recent tradition, the Raiders surprised draft viewers with their first-round pick. The Jon Gruden–Mike Mayock regime chose Alex Leatherwood 17th overall. The Alabama tackle was viewed by most as a major reach; Scouts Inc. rated him as this draft’s 60th-best prospect. The Raiders may have been leery of two teams eyeing Leatherwood in the back half of Round 1, however. The Steelers and Vikings had Leatherwood on their respective radars, per Fowler. The Vikings drafted Virginia Tech’s Christian Darrisaw (Scouts Inc.’s No. 20 overall prospect) at No. 23. Pittsburgh preferred him to most of the draft’s second-tier tackles, but the team appeared locked in on ex-Leatherwood teammate Najee Harris at No. 24. Leatherwood is expected to work as a right tackle in Las Vegas.

Minor NFL Transactions: 5/17/21

May 17th, 2021 at 9:42am CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Vikings' CB Moves Prompted Hughes Trade

May 16th, 2021 at 4:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Vikings punted on Mike Hughes‘ contract year, sending the former first-round cornerback to the Chiefs in a pick-swap trade involving late-round selections. They felt comfortable doing so because of their additions at the position this offseason.

Minnesota signed Peterson to a one-year, $10MM deal and reunited with former second-round pick Mackensie Alexander on a one-year pact. The Vikings drafted two corners high last year — first-rounder Jeff Gladney and third-rounder Cameron Dantzler — but a Gladney arrest earlier this year could affect his NFL future. Taken 30th overall in 2018, Hughes has only played 24 regular-season games during his career. The Chiefs have now taken fliers on two recent first-round corners — Hughes and DeAndre Baker — at low-cost rates.

Vikings Sign Fourth-Round RB Kene Nwangwu

May 15th, 2021 at 11:26am CST by Ben Levine

The Vikings have signed their sixth draft pick. Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports (via Twitter) that the team has signed fourth-round running back Kene Nwangwu. It’s a four-year pact worth $4.23MM, including a $752K+ signing bonus.

[RELATED: Vikings Sign First-Round Pick Christian Darrisaw]

Nwangwu didn’t really emerge on the NFL radar until the completion of his 2020 season. While the six-foot-one, 210-pound running back didn’t put up crazy counting stats (only 361 yards from scrimmage and four scores), he still had a solid 5.6 yards per rushing attempt (down a bit from his eye-popping 7.2 mark in 2019). Nwangwu was also productive on special teams during his college career, returning 92 kicks.

In Minnesota, the rookie will likely compete with Ameer Abdullah for the third spot on the depth chart behind Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison. His real opportunity for playing time will be in the return game, where he’ll compete with Abdullah and rookie wideout Ihmir Smith-Marsette.

The Vikings still have five of their draft picks unsigned, as our NFL Draft Results page shows:

Round 1: No. 23 (from Seahawks through Jets) Christian Darrisaw, OT (Virginia Tech) (signed)
Round 3: No. 66 (from Jets) Kellen Mond, QB (Texas A&M)
Round 3: No. 78 Chazz Surratt, LB (North Carolina)
Round 3: No. 86 (from Seahawks through Jets) Wyatt Davis, G (Ohio State)
Round 3: No. 90 (from Ravens) Patrick Jones II, DE (Pittsburgh)
Round 4: No. 119 Kene Nwangwu, RB (Iowa State) (signed)
Round 4: No. 125 (from Bears) Camryn Bynum, CB (California) (signed)
Round 4: No. 134 (from Bills) Janarius Robinson, DE (Florida State)
Round 5: No. 157 Ihmir Smith-Marsette, WR (Iowa) (signed)
Round 5: No. 168 (from Steelers through Ravens): Zach Davidson, TE (Central Missouri) (signed)
Round 6: No. 199 Jaylen Twyman, DT (Pittsburgh) (signed)

Vikings Sign First-Round Pick Christian Darrisaw

May 14th, 2021 at 1:08pm CST by Rory Parks

The Vikings have their first-round pick under contract. According to Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk, Minnesota has signed No. 23 overall selection Christian Darrisaw.

Darrisaw, a Virginia Tech product, is likely to become the Vikes’ starting left tackle right away. The team had a major need there after parting ways with Riley Reiff this offseason, and Darrisaw has a high floor thanks to his natural athleticism and the proficiency he has already displayed as both a pass-blocker and run-blocker. Some scouting reports suggest he will need to do a better job of finishing his blocks at the professional level, but there is no reason to believe he won’t develop that ability with time.

The Vikings originally held the No. 14 overall pick, and they discussed trading up from that spot in an effort to land quarterback Justin Fields. Ultimately, the Bears beat them to the punch by jumping up from the No. 20 selection to No. 11 — a move that required the forfeiture of a 2022 first-rounder — and with Fields and Northwestern LT Rashawn Slater off the board, Minnesota GM Rick Spielman dropped from No. 14 to No. 23.

However, as we later learned, Spielman was prepared to trade back up from No. 23 to make sure he landed Darrisaw (as Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writes, Minnesota may have made an offer to the Raiders, who were holding the No. 17 pick). Ultimately, Spielman was able to keep the draft capital he acquired as part of his trade down while still getting the former Hokie to protect Kirk Cousins‘ blind side.

In addition to Darrisaw, the Vikings have signed fourth-round selection Camryn Bynum. Bynum, a cornerback out of California-Berkeley, was one of three fourth-rounders for the Vikings this year. Minnesota just traded fellow corner Mike Hughes to the Chiefs, thereby giving Bynum a bit of a better shot at immediate playing time. Over 42 collegiate games, he tallied 184 total tackles (eight TFL) and six interceptions.

Vikings Trade Mike Hughes To Chiefs

May 13th, 2021 at 4:13pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

It’s been a busy afternoon with lots of draft pick signings, and now we’ve got a trade! Minnesota is sending cornerback Mike Hughes to the Chiefs, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Kansas City is sending their sixth-round pick in 2022 and getting back Hughes and a 2022 seventh-rounder, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. In essence, the Chiefs are getting Hughes for practically nothing to take on the final year of his rookie deal. The 30th overall pick of the 2018 draft, Hughes just recently had his fifth-year option declined by the Vikings. To say Kansas City GM Brett Veach has been aggressive this offseason would be a big understatement.

His latest acquisition is the young cornerback from UCF who has had a really tough time with injuries in his brief career. First, Hughes tore an ACL a little over a month into his rookie season. Then he missed a couple of games with a neck injury in 2019, before a neck issue limited him to only four games this past year.

Through three pro campaigns he’s appeared in only 24 games, making seven starts. In those games he’s recorded 80 tackles, three forced fumbles, 13 passes defended, and two interceptions. The Vikings added Patrick Peterson and Mackensie Alexander this offseason, leaving Hughes with an uncertain role in their secondary.

The Chiefs have yet to re-sign Bashaud Breeland this offseason, so the could use some cornerback depth behind L’Jarius Sneed and Charvarius Ward. Hughes only turned 24 in February, so he’s still got some theoretical upside.

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