Vikings add OLB Quincy Roche to the practice squad

After losing outside linebacker Luiji Vilain off of the practice squad to the Carolina Panthers, the Minnesota Vikings moved quickly to fill that slot with another young pass rusher.

Per numerous reports, the Vikings have signed outside linebacker Quincy Roche to the practice squad.

Roche was a sixth-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2021 NFL Draft. He played four seasons in college at Temple, garnering AAC Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2019 before playing his final season at the University of Miami (FL) in 2020.

Roche didn’t make the Steelers’ final cuts as a rookie in 2021 and wound up signing with the New York Giants’ practice squad. He spent the next two seasons with the Giants, bouncing back and forth between the practice squad and the active roster. He appeared in 14 games (with three starts) for the Giants in 2021 but just three in 2022. He then signed a futures contract with the Steelers this past offseason but was waived by Pittsburgh as a part of their final cuts.

With Roche added to the practice squad, that unit is now back to its full complement of 16 17 players. The full Vikings’ practice squad looks like this:

• DL Junior Aho (international player exemption)
• OL Henry Byrd
• WR Dan Chisena
• CB C.J. Coldon Jr.
• DL Sheldon Day
• TE Troy Fumagalli
• WR Lucky Jackson
• WR Trishton Jackson
• QB Sean Mannion
• RB DeWayne McBride
• OL Tyrese Robinson
• OLB Quincy Roche
• DL T.J. Smith
• WR Thayer Thomas
• LB Nick Vigil
• OLB Benton Whitley
• CB Jaylin Williams