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This past weekend's NFL Draft and the flurry of undrafted free agent signings that followed signifies the beginning of an exciting journey for many players. For other players, the NFL Draft means an unfortunate end of the road.
We have spent the past several days focusing on the influx of new players on the Minnesota Vikings; today we were reminded that there are only so many players that can be on the roster. In order to make room for the new draftees and undrafted free agent signings, the Vikings announced the release of four players on their official website Tuesday: RB Bradley Randle, LB Simoni Lawrence, OL Josh Samuda, and LB Terrell Manning. None of the four players have had significant playing time in their NFL careers.
Randle was in Training Camp with the Vikings last year, was cut, and was re-signed to a deal later in the season. He quickly became a underdog fan favorite due to his infectiously positive attitude on Twitter. It was easy to tell how excited he was to be a member of the Vikings--after all, his Twitter handle is @VIKINGS_Rebel. Unfortunately for Randle the writing was on the wall when the team drafted Jerick McKinnon in the third round and made Randle expendable.
You might remember Josh Samuda not for his play, but for the awful ankle injury he suffered about a month ago. (If for some morbid reason you want to see it, you can click the original post here.)
Beside the ten draft picks that the Vikings made over the weekend, they have also officially announced the signings of 15 undrafted free agents: G Conor Bofelli, T Pierce Burton, WR Kain Colter, DE Rakim Cox, DT Isame Faciane, WR Donte Foster, T Matt Hall, C Zac Kerin, TE AC Leonard, WR Erik Lora, QB Travis Partridge, T Antonio Richardson, DE Tyler Scott, DE Jake Snyder, and RB Dominique Williams.
According to Vikings beat writer Chris Tomasson, he has confirmed with the Vikings that the moves leave the team with 89 players, which gives them exactly one open roster spot for the time being.