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The deadline for NFL teams to reduce their rosters to 53 players is fast approaching, as all of the moves need to be made by 3:00 PM Central time on Saturday. On Wednesday, the Vikings got started on shaping that final roster by making several moves.
One of the moves the team made was moving one of their draft picks, defensive end Kenny Willekes, to injured reserve. Willikes was injured in one of the Vikings’ last practices of training camp, and that injury has turned out to be a torn ACL, so his season is officially over.
The Vikings waived five other players on Wednesday as well:
- RB Tony Brooks-James
- LB Jordan Fehr
- DE Stacy Keely
- LB Quentin Poling (waived from injured reserve)
- DE Anthony Zettel
Keely spent parts of last season on the Vikings’ practice squad, as did Brooks-James. Poling was brought in during camp and subsequently got injured, Zettel was one of the team’s few free agent signings, and Fehr was an undrafted free agent this past April from Appalachian State. None of these should come as a huge surprise.
With these moves, the Vikings’ roster now sits at 75 players (Poling was not taking up a roster spot as he was on IR when he was waived). We will be tracking all of the Vikings’ roster cuts, as we do every season, in one stream that you can find here.