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With a need for a long snapper, at least temporarily, the Minnesota Vikings eschewed my suggestion to bring back Jared Allen in favor of a guy that is not, you know, technically retired from the NFL.
The Vikings have just announced that they have signed long snapper Jeff Overbaugh to a contract.
Overbaugh was undrafted out of San Diego State University in 2016, and was with the Los Angeles Rams in training camp that year. He also spent some time with the Denver Broncos, and was most recently with the Chicago Bears. He has never seen action in a regular season NFL game. There’s this little tidbit of information from one of our fellow Vikings’ bloggers on him as well.
#Vikings new long snapper is a rookie out of San Diego State
— Adam Patrick (@Str8_Cash_Homey) December 26, 2017
He was perfect on all 409 snaps in college and was named the top specialist at the 2016 Senior Bowl https://t.co/ZaZJkYfKeZ
Overbaugh will replace current long snapper Kevin McDermott, who injured his shoulder in the Vikings’ Week 16 victory over the Green Bay Packers (on a play that never should have happened). McDermott has said that he hopes to be back in time for the Vikings’ playoff run, and if the Vikings get a bye week, it would certainly help him to achieve that.
To make room for Overbaugh on the roster, the Vikings placed guard Nick Easton on injured reserve. Easton suffered a fractured ankle in Saturday’s game and is done for the season.
So, the Vikings have filled the void they had at long snapper. For how long? Well, that remains to be seen.