Inside The Vikings

Former Vikings CB Kris Boyd Signs One-Year Deal With Cardinals

Boyd was a key special teams player in Minnesota over the last four years.
Will Ragatz|
Former Vikings CB Kris Boyd Signs One-Year Deal With Cardinals
Former Vikings CB Kris Boyd Signs One-Year Deal With Cardinals

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Minnesota Vikings

Former Vikings cornerback and special teams standout Kris Boyd has signed a one-year deal with the Arizona Cardinals, his new team announced on Monday.

Boyd becomes the fourth cornerback to officially leave the Vikings this offseason. Patrick Peterson (Steelers) and Duke Shelley (Raiders) also signed new deals in free agency and Cameron Dantzler was claimed on waivers by the Commanders. Chandon Sullivan won't be back, either, but he hasn't yet signed with a new team.

A seventh-round pick out of Texas in 2019, Boyd carved out a role for himself on special teams over the duration of his rookie contract. He appeared in 58 regular season games with the Vikings, starting six of them. Five of those starts came in 2020, when he played a career-high 343 defensive snaps. Boyd totaled 297 defensive snaps in his other three seasons, including just 39 last year.

Although Boyd never developed into a starting-caliber cornerback, he stuck around by becoming a valuable, versatile special teams contributor. He played over 1,000 special teams snaps in his four seasons with the Vikings, including a team-high 398 in 2022. In Minnesota's Week 4 win over the Saints in London, Boyd forced and recovered a fumble while playing on the punt coverage unit.

In Arizona, Boyd's special teams ability should help him make the 53-man roster, where he can also serve as emergency cornerback depth.

The Vikings need to continue adding to their CB room, which currently features Byron Murphy Jr., Andrew Booth Jr., Akayleb Evans, Kalon Barnes, and Tay Gowan.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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