Today is final cutdown day in the National Football League, and there are a few Vikings that were thought to have a chance to make the big roster that have already been told that they're going to be cut.
According to Access Vikings, the players that have been told that they're going to be cut are:
WR Martin Nance - Again, this saddens me, as I really thought the kid could have been a contributor. I don't know if this means that another WR just beat him out or if the Vikings are only going to carry five receivers. We'll have to see.
C Dan Mozes - Got squeezed out because of a numbers game at the center spot, with Matt Birk being the unquestioned starter and 6th round pick John Sullivan slated to be his backup. Missed all of 2007 with a knee injury.
CB Brandon Sumrall - I thought Sumrall actually played pretty well in the pre-season, but with the Vikings' CBs already going four deep (Winfield, Griffin, McCauley, and Gordon in no particular order), there were a lot of guys competing for one spot, and Sumrall appears to be one that lost out. I think we'll see him on the practice squad.
T Chase Johnson - Was rumored to be getting groomed to play LT in the absence of Bryant McKinnie. After seeing him in the pre-season, I think we can agree that it's probably best for everyone. . .and especially for Tarvaris Jackson's health. . .if he doesn't.
TE Braden Jones - Another player that was the fourth guy on a three-deep depth chart. Might end up on the practice squad again.
DE Chris Norwell - Was signed after the injury to Jayme Mitchell. Was a Viking for the final three pre-season games. Hopefully he was compensated for his time.
The Star-Tribune is also reporting that linebackers David Herron and Rufus Alexander have also been told that the coach wants to see them, and to bring their playbooks. I don't have a lot to say about Herron, and pretty much expected him to be gone, but I really thought that Rufus Alexander had performed well enough this pre-season to merit a spot on the roster. I'm actually a bit disappointed that he didn't make it after the injury to Heath Farwell. I'm guessing the Vikings will try to sneak him onto the practice squad here, too, but I wouldn't be surprised to see another team with LB issues grab him.
I can only assume that this means that Erin Henderson and Vinny Ciurciu will be two of the three backup linebackers. Not sure who the third one will be at this point with Alexander getting cut. But, we'll find out this afternoon as the final cuts need to be made by 4 PM Central time, and the Vikings will also put their practice squad together on Sunday.
On the weather front, there really hasn't been a significant change in the track of Hurricane Gustav as of now. It has been forecast to strengthen all the way into a Category 4 at some point in its travels, albeit briefly. We might not get the worst here in Mississippi, but I'm guessing that we'll get it bad enough that an evacuation order is going to come down at some point during the weekend. Some folks in Mississippi have already been ordered to evacuate by 8 AM Sunday, but nothing from the Keesler AFB higher-ups yet about our status on that front.
Hopefully we'll be back here later today with the final roster, and back here tomorrow as well. Keep enjoying your weekend, and we'll see you back here then!