Vikings sign offensive lineman Josh Andrews

Even though the 2017 season is officially over and the 2018 league year hasn’t yet started, NFL teams still have the ability to make roster moves if they want to. Apparently, the Minnesota Vikings have done just that, signing an offensive lineman to a futures contract.

At least, that’s what his agent is saying, anyway.

Per his agent, offensive lineman Josh Andrews will be heading to Minnesota.

Andrews isn’t a big name by any stretch. . .since going undrafted out of Oregon State in 2014, he’s only appeared in 16 NFL games, with 13 of those appearances coming in 2015. He’s spent his entire time in the league with the Philadelphia Eagles, and was on their practice squad at the end of this season.

This appears to be the reason why the Vikings can sign him to a contract. Thanks to a helpful primer from our friends over at Cincy Jungle, any player that is not on a roster at the end of the 2017 season, to include practice squad players, is eligible to be signed to a futures contract by any other team.

Futures contract are now, apparently, the new en vogue way to poach players from the practice squads of other teams. If a team signs a player from a practice squad during the regular season, they’re obligated to pay them the regular roster price for three weeks, whether they keep the player on the active roster or not. During the offseason, however, they don’t have that obligation. They can simply sign a player to a futures contract and make him a part of their 90-man roster.

So, while this might not be an impact signing or anything, it is a signing. . .and, with this being the offseason, we’ll take news anywhere we can find it.