Thoughts on the Vikings' First 53-Man Roster and What Might Be Next

The Vikings have set their initial 53-man roster for the 2023 season, but the work for GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and his front office staff is far from finished. There will be at least one change — realistically, multiple changes — to this roster before the Vikings take the field against the Buccaneers on September 10th.

Let's break down this group of 53 and go over some thoughts on what might be next in the coming days.

Positional breakdown

QB: 3 (Cousins, Mullens, Hall)
RB/FB: 4 (Mattison, Ham, Chandler, Nwangwu)
WR: 6 (Jefferson, Addison, Osborn, Nailor, Powell, Reagor)
TE: 4 (Hockenson, Oliver, Mundt, Muse)
OL: 8 (Darrisaw, Cleveland, Bradbury, Ingram, O'Neill, Brandel, Schlottmann, Udoh)
DL: 5 (Phillips, Lowry, Tonga, Bullard, Roy)
OLB: 5 (Hunter, Davenport, Jones, Wonnum, Carter)
LB: 4 (Hicks, Asamoah, Pace, Dye)
S: 6 (Smith, Bynum, Metellus, Cine, Ward, Jackson)
CB: 5 (Murphy, Evans, Blackmon, Booth, Thompson)
ST: 3 (Joseph, Wright, DePaola)

Trading Vederian Lowe and placing Chris Reed on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury list meant the Vikings have eight offensive linemen, which allowed them to keep both six wide receivers and four tight ends.

Four TEs probably shouldn't come as a surprise given the Vikings' clear plan to play more 12 personnel this year (and probably even some 13 personnel in short-yardage situations). Nick Muse had a strong preseason and he was rewarded with a spot on the roster, where he'll provide depth at a position that has a lot of value in Kevin O'Connell's offense.

On the other side of the ball, the Vikings had hinted at keeping six safeties and they clearly weren't kidding. They love what Theo Jackson brings to the table on both defense and special teams, so he's on the roster as safety No. 6. That is a rare number to keep at that position, but Brian Flores has shown a bunch of three-safety looks during training camp so having depth there will be valuable.

Biggest surprises who made it (and didn't)

Jalen Reagor over Trishton Jackson
Andre Carter II over Luiji Vilain
Theo Jackson over Joejuan Williams

A report came out earlier on Tuesday that the Vikings were receiving trade calls on Reagor, who has a guaranteed salary of $2.4 million that can be fully moved in a deal. When projecting the roster, I figured Brandon Powell's presence as the WR5 and punt returner made Reagor redundant. I guess not? He's on the roster for now, but that doesn't mean a trade is no longer possible. To Reagor's credit, he had a strong preseason and is more of a potential deep threat than Powell.

Another surprise to me was Carter making it over Vilain in the fifth outside linebacker spot. Even though the Vikings gave Carter $340,000 guaranteed to sign as an undrafted free agent this year, Vilain has been the better player — at least in my eyes — throughout training camp and the preseason. In the end, it probably came down to which player the Vikings felt more comfortable exposing to waivers. They must be hoping Vilain lands on their practice squad while they continue developing Carter.

Lastly, I clearly didn't take O'Connell seriously enough when he said they were considering keeping all six safeties. I thought they'd go five and five at the defensive back spots and keep Williams, whose length and Patriots experience ostensibly made him a good fit in Flores' scheme.

It's easy to imagine situations where Jackson, Vilain, and Williams find themselves back on the Vikings' active roster soon if they don't end up elsewhere (the first two are subject to waivers, Williams isn't).

What might happen next?

Two positions groups stand out as being obvious spots where the Vikings could add from outside the organization: RB and CB.

At running back, it's really just Alexander Mattison and Ty Chandler right now. Kene Nwangwu is a kick return specialist — and he's been injured for almost a month anyways. The Vikings waived DeWayne McBride, Abram Smith, and Aaron Dykes, but any or all three could stick around on the practice squad. There are also plenty of RB options out there in waivers or veteran free agency.

It's a similar story at corner. The Vikings kept five, but NaJee Thompson is exclusively going to play on special teams. That means Andrew Booth Jr. is the only current backup behind starters Byron Murphy Jr., Akayleb Evans, and Mekhi Blackmon. I wonder if the Vikings may have told Williams there's a good chance they'll be re-signing him shortly. Other CB options include a waiver claim or a veteran FA like Bradley Roby or Desmond King. It is also worth noting that several of the Vikings' safeties (Cam Bynum, Josh Metellus, Jay Ward) have some theoretical cornerback flexibility.

Two other positions where the Vikings may want to add are guard and defensive line.

Nwangwu is a clear candidate to go on IR in order to free up a roster spot. Lewis Cine could be another, depending on the severity of his recent injury — which O'Connell described as "a little bit of a low-grade soft-tissue thing."

Reagor remains a trade candidate, while someone like Theo Jackson's spot might not be totally safe this week. Waivers will be processed on Wednesday, so keep an eye out for that. The Vikings are 24th in line for priority; it's the same as this year's draft order.

Other roster notes

Just for fun:

Eight rookies made the 53-man roster, three of whom went undrafted. The Vikings' top five selections all made it, with only the seventh-rounder McBride getting waived. Carter, Thompson, and Ivan Pace Jr. earned their way onto the 53 as rookie UDFAs, which is an impressive feat. That's quite the haul in college free agency for the Vikings' front office. And while Carter is a project, Pace might be a starting linebacker and Thompson is going to play a ton on special teams right away.
There are five-non rookies on the roster who weren't Vikings in 2022: Murphy, Powell, Marcus Davenport, Josh Oliver, and Dean Lowry. The other 40 players were on the team last year. That includes eight of the ten members of the '22 draft class; only Lowe (traded) and Esezi Otomewo (waived) aren't on this 53 from that class.
There are also homegrown players from the following Rick Spielman draft classes: 2021 (4), 2020 (7), 2019 (3), 2018 (1), 2015 (1), and 2012 (1).

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