Vikings Have Inquired About LaRod Stephens-Howling

While they've taken a big chunk out of the salary cap space that they had when free agency began, the Minnesota Vikings have not stopped looking for ways to upgrade their roster. That includes looking at alternatives at the running back position, which needs shoring up in the wake of Toby Gerhart signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

According to our friends at Behind the Steel Curtain, the Minnesota Vikings have reached out to the agent for running back LaRod Stephens-Howling, who spent last season with the Steelers after spending his first four NFL seasons with the Arizona Cardinals.

Stephens-Howling played in just one game for the Steelers in 2013 before tearing his ACL and missing the remainder of the season. In Arizona, he was used as a change-of-pace type of back, as well as a kickoff returner. He had one of the better games of his career in 2012 against the Minnesota Vikings, rushing 20 times for 104 yards and a touchdown and tossing in four receptions for 45 yards.

It's tough to really gauge the interest in a guy like Stephens-Howling, coming off of a major injury the way he is and being particularly reliant on his speed and shiftiness. But that would also lower his price tag, you would think, and would allow the Vikings to bring him in to compete for a spot behind Adrian Peterson.