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The Alliance of American Football is set to make its debut in eight cities the week after Super Bowl LIII. The league recently announced the signing of over 500 players to fill out the rosters of those eight teams, and fans of the Minnesota Vikings will see some familiar faces among the players signed.
The biggest number of former Vikings appears to have found their way to the Salt Lake City franchise, known as the Salt Lake Stallions. The most familiar name among them is running back Matt Asiata, who played for the Vikings from 2012 to 2016 and rushed for over 1,200 yards and 18 touchdowns during his time with the Vikings.
Joining Asiata in Salt Lake City will be running back Terrell Newby, tight end Nick Truesdell, quarterback Peter Pujals, and wide receiver Jake Wieneke. Newby and Truesdell were with the Vikings in training camp in 2017, while Pujals and Wieneke were both with the Vikings in camp this past season.
Some of the other players that Vikings fans might recognize include:
Brandon Watts (Atlanta Legends) - Watts was a seventh-round pick for the Vikings in 2014 out of Georgia Tech, and played for the Vikings for two seasons.
Kareem Are (Orlando Apollos) - Are spent some time with the Vikings in training camp this past season.
Bronson Hill (Arizona Hotshots) - Hill spent time on the Vikings’ practice squad in 2017.
Will Sutton (Arizona Hotshots) - Sutton signed with the Vikings as a free agent during the 2017 offseason, but was cut in training camp.
David Cobb (San Antonio Commanders) - Maybe not familiar to Vikings fans, but Cobb did spend some time in the NFL after an outstanding career at the University of Minnesota.
Bishop Sankey (San Diego Fleet) - Sankey was with the Vikings going into training camp in 2017, but tore an ACL during his first preseason game and was placed on injured reserve.
Defensive end Jonathan Wynn was, originally, on the roster of the Memphis Express, but was recently added to the Vikings’ practice squad.
The eight-team league will have some of its games featured on the CBS Sports Network, with the regular season beginning on 9 February and concluding on 14 April. That would put the end of the season right around NFL Draft time, so this might provide a pretty solid way to get your football fix between the time the NFL season ends and draft day.