Vikings waive OL Tyler Higby

Undrafted free agent offensive lineman Tyler Higby was one of four Minnesota Vikings rookies that the team placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list shortly after rookies started reporting to Training Camp in late July. On Sunday, the Vikings removed Higby from their COVID-19 list, but rather than move him to the active roster, the team has waived him instead.

Higby played his college football at Michigan State and started 30 of his 43 games for the Spartans. Most of his starts came at left guard, but he saw time at left tackle as well.

We speculated that some of the undrafted free agents would be the hardest hit by the NFL’s decision to limit Training Camp rosters to 80 players due to the pandemic, and Higby appears to be a victim of that. We’ll have to see if he catches on somewhere else.

With Higby being removed from the COVID-19 list, the Vikings now have just two players remaining on it after leading the league at one point with eight. Those two players are linebacker Cameron Smith, who will be undergoing open heart surgery and will be placed on injured reserve in the very near future, and offensive lineman Oli Udoh.