Minnesota Vikings Activate Taylor Heinicke, Release MyCole Pruitt

The Minnesota Vikings made a couple of connected roster moves today. One of them isn’t much of a surprise, while the other certainly could be classed as one.

To start with, the team has activated quarterback Taylor Heinicke from the Non-Football Injury List. Heinicke was one of the early stories of Vikings’ training camp, as he showed up to Mankato with his foot in a cast. He suffered that injury when he put his foot through the glass part of a door while trying to help his friend break into his own house. (How Vikings is that, huh?) The injury was a disappointment, because a lot of people thought that Heinicke might have been able to push Shaun Hill to be the primary backup to Teddy Bridgewater (and then Sam Bradford), but he was placed on the Non-Football Injury list instead.

To make room for Heinicke on the roster, the team made a somewhat surprising move by releasing second-year tight end MyCole Pruitt. Pruitt was one of the Vikings’ fifth-round picks in the 2015 NFL Draft, and was thought to have a pretty bright future with the team as a pass-catching tight end. He’s had some issues staying healthy this year, and only appeared in two games for the Vikings this season. In his career with Minnesota, he has caught 11 passes for 97 yards.

No moves have been made along the kicker front yet, but the Vikings managed to make some news with their roster anyway.