Vikings Sign Ex-Steelers Punter Jordan Berry to Replace Britton Colquitt
The Vikings have a new punter: they're signing longtime Steelers P Jordan Berry to replace Britton Colquitt, per multiple reports. The team later confirmed.
Berry was waived by the Steelers this week after six seasons as their starting punter. He lost the job to rookie Pressley Harvin III. This move continues the Vikings' overhaul of their 2020 specialists group and gives them a punter with a higher floor than they had with Colquitt.
Berry is a 30-year-old Australian who played college football at Eastern Kentucky and had been Pittsburgh's punter since 2015, with the exception of a five-game stretch last season.
Colquitt's play was one of many issues for the Vikings' special teams in 2020. He finished 29th in net average and 35th in PFF grade among qualified punters. Colquitt's struggles continued with a dreadful performance in the preseason opener this year, but he bounced back in the next two games. Still, the Vikings must feel like they could benefit from a change at the position. Colquitt had been the Vikings' punter for the last two seasons and will now be looking for a new team in his 13th NFL season.
Berry has basically been a middle-of-the-pack punter for his whole career. He'll bring stability and consistency to Minnesota in that regard. Berry averaged a career-best 45.8 yards per punt last season. He'll need to establish chemistry with long snapper Andrew DePaola and kicker Greg Joseph, given that he'll take over the holding duties as well.
The way this played out was fairly odd. The Vikings released Colquitt on Wednesday, but that was believed to be a procedural move and he was back at practice on Thursday. Special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken said he was expecting Colquitt, Joseph, and DePaola to be the Vikings' trio of specialists this year. Then, later in the afternoon, Berry is in and Colquitt is out.
We'll see if it works out.
In other news, the Vikings officially signed Sean Mannion to their practice squad. In the event something happens to Kirk Cousins, it's unclear if Mannion would be elevated to be the backup or if Kellen Mond would get the call. Either way, Mannion brings a higher floor of performance than Jake Browning and will once again have the role of helping prepare Cousins for each game.
The Vikings also signed former Rams WR Trishton Jackson to the practice squad. The 2020 UDFA from Syracuse made the Rams’ initial 53-man roster last year and gives the Vikings a third WR on the practice squad.
There are also some jersey number changes to report. Everson Griffen got No. 97 back from Michael Pierce, who will wear 58. Harrison Hand has switched from 38 to 20, and Sheldon Richardson has gone from 9 to 90. He was always going to have to change off of 9 when the season rolled around, due to NFL rules.
Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Vikings news and analysis all season long. Also, follow me on Twitter and feel free to ask me any questions on there.
