Minnesota Vikings Add Two Safeties To 53-Man Roster

On Tuesday afternoon, the Minnesota Vikings announced several roster moves to help bolster themselves prior to their Thursday night contest against the Arizona Cardinals.

The first move they made was to put safety Antone Exum on injured reserve. Exum suffered a fractured rib and a sprained AC joint in the first quarter of the Vikings' loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. He missed just one play in the contest. . .unfortunately, his season is now over with.

In a slightly more surprising move, the team released defensive end Justin Trattou. Trattou was the #3 defensive end in the rotation going into the season, but a combination of a foot injury and the rapid development of rookie Danielle Hunter left Trattou inactive for much of the time after he recovered. He did have an interception against the Detroit Lions, but that was before he injured his foot.

The Vikings brought back cornerback/safety Shaun Prater to the 53-man roster. Prater spent Training Camp this year with the Vikings, and got time at both corner and safety. With the Vikings having a bunch of health issues at the safety position, it's very likely that he's going to see time there on Thursday night. He should be familiar with the scheme, so the learning curve shouldn't be too steep.

Minnesota also promoted safety Anthony Harris from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. Harris signed with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent following this year's draft. He was originally expected to be drafted as high as the second round, but fell completely out of the selection process.

The team also re-signed linebacker Terrance Plummer to the practice squad. The Vikings initially signed Plummer to the practice squad in late October, but had released him last week.

So, the Vikings now actually have a couple of healthy safeties on the roster. Sure, one's a guy that's never seen regular season NFL action and one's a guy that hasn't seen the field in months, but hey. . .it's a start, right?