Vikings to release P Jordan Berry

Earlier this week, Minnesota Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels declared that Saturday night’s preseason finale against the Denver Broncos would be a “punt off” between incumbent Jordan Berry and rookie Ryan Wright.

It appears that’s no longer happening.

Darren Wolfson of KSTP in Minneapolis is reporting that the Vikings are releasing Berry today, meaning that Wright has officially won the punting job as things stand right now.

Wolfson is also reporting that the Vikings have signed cornerback Tye Smith, who was part of their cuts to get down from 90 players to 85 a couple of weeks ago, and that they have reached an injury settlement with defensive tackle Tyarise Stevenson.

Wright, the undrafted free agent out of Tulane, had basically been Berry’s equal this preseason as far as punting is concerned, and the Vikings appear to have made their choice to go with a cheaper option at the position. Just as importantly, this means that Wright will also be the holder for Greg Joseph on field goals and extra points. We know that the chemistry between those two players and the long snapper (Andrew DePaola) is important, so hopefully all of that will get ironed out before Week 1.

Again, the Vikings have released veteran punter Jordan Berry, giving the job to undrafted free agent Ryan Wright.