Vikings Cut Kai Forbath, Free Up Five Total Roster Spots With Other Moves

After the rash of injuries suffered in Saturday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, a few roster moves were anticipated in the fallout. We ended up with more than expected.

The Minnesota Vikings removed no fewer than five players from the active roster on Monday morning for a variety of reasons. The biggest name on the list was the release of Kai Forbath, which put an official end to the preseason kicking competition between Forbath and Daniel Carlson. Forbath’s chances of making the team were fairly slim after the team used a fifth round pick to select Carlson in the 2018 NFL Draft. Forbath’s chances were even worse after Carlson nailed all six of his kicks in the preseason opener against the Denver Broncos. Forbath’s fate was sealed the instant his 41-yard field goal attempt bounced off the upright in the second quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday.

All the other moves the Vikings made were related to injuries suffered during the Jacksonville game. Defensive end Ade Aruna was placed directly on Injured Reserve. Tackle Cedrick Lang, tight end Josiah Price, and fullback Johnny Stanton were all given the waived/injured designation.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the Vikings have permanently cut ties with Lang, Price, and Stanton. After teams make their cuts to 53-man rosters, each player could still be added to Injured Reserve. Otherwise the Vikings will likely come to an injury settlement with the players. Here’s a good explanation of injury settlements for marginal players from Dan Duggan of NJ.com:

With a settlement, the team can pay a lump sum to cover the weeks the player will miss due to injury and then cut the player. If the player remains on injured reserve all season, the team is responsible for paying his salary each week.

The Vikings will likely use the five open roster spots to make some additions to their 90-man roster in the coming days. When those happen, we’ll report them for you here.