NFL Roster Cuts: Minnesota Vikings waive Hercules Mata’afa

As one of their cuts to get the roster down to 53 players by today’s 3:00 PM Central deadline, the Minnesota Vikings have chosen to part ways. . .at least for now. . .with a versatile defensive lineman.

The Vikings are waiving defensive lineman Hercules Mata’afa as one of their final cuts, according to Darren Wolfson.

Mata’afa signed with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent out of Washington State in 2018, but missed that entire season after tearing an ACL in Organized Team Activities that offseason. He came back in 2019 and in his two full seasons with the Vikings has worked at both defensive end and defensive tackle, adding a bit of weight over that time to better stand up to the position.

Mata’afa is a player that could definitely come back to the practice squad, as his energy and versatility are both solid attributes to have in a backup, particularly the way the Vikings like to rotate their defensive linemen.

We are tracking all of the Vikings’ final cuts on our Roster Cut Tracker, which you can find right here.