Vikings sign Tashawn Bower from Patriots’ practice squad

Once again, the Minnesota Vikings are looking for help on the defensive front, and they’re calling on an old friend to come in and provide it.

Per numerous sources, the Vikings have signed defensive end Tashawn Bower off of the New England Patriots’ practice squad.

Bower, as we know, got his start with the Vikings, having signed with the team as an undrafted free agent out of Louisiana State in 2017. Bower played sparingly in his first couple of years with the Vikings, and tore an Achilles during the 2019 offseason. The Vikings waived him with an injury settlement in October of that year.

He then signed with the Patriots, and has bounced back and forth between the practice squad and the active roster over the past couple of seasons.

In his career, Bower has one quarterback sack (of Jared Goff on the final play of the Vikings’ 2017 victory over the Los Angeles Rams at U.S. Bank Stadium) and 19 tackles. He will provide depth at the defensive end spot for a Vikings’ front four that is suddenly very much in need of it. It might take some time for him to get up to speed, but at this point in the season the options are kind of few and far between, and Bower has at least some familiarity with the defense which should help him in his quest to get snaps for the purple.