Vikings Waive Cornerback Bashaud Breeland, Who Has Started All 13 Games This Season
The Vikings have waived starting cornerback Bashaud Breeland, the team announced on Saturday afternoon.
This is a surprise. Breeland has started all 13 games this season, and while he's mostly had a rough year, he's coming off a game against the Steelers where he recorded his second interception of the season.
Around ten minutes before the move was announced, Breeland tweeted "wow."
He later posted a goodbye.
"I wanna appreciate the Vikings for the opportunity they [gave me] no hard feelings no love lost," Breeland wrote.
It's natural to wonder if there's more to the story here. Earlier in the day, Breeland was listed as questionable for Monday night's game in Chicago with what Mike Zimmer described as "not injury related." Then, a couple hours later, he's gone. This post will be updated if we learn more about the details of this story eventually.
Update: Breeland "got into a verbal altercation today at practice with coaches, took off his cleats and got into it with multiple teammates who were trying to calm the situation," according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. That explains things.
Breeland has also made some other noise off of the field with a few questionable, occasionally profane postgame tweets at various points during the season.
The Vikings signed Breeland to a one-year deal worth up to $4 million in early June. He beat out Cameron Dantzler for a starting job in training camp, but got off to a really rough start to the season. Breeland played a big role in the Vikings' season-opening loss to the Bengals, giving up significant yardage, missing a handful of tackles, and committing a crucial penalty. Things didn't get much better after that poor first impression, although Breeland has had a couple solid games this year and has done enough to at least keep his starting job all season. He missed some time against the 49ers, Ravens, and Steelers with injuries or illness.
In 13 games with the Vikings, Breeland forced two fumbles and picked off two passes. According to Pro Football Focus, his 795 yards allowed in coverage trail only Trevon Diggs among all NFL players. He also committed six penalties and his 15 missed tackles are tied for the league lead among corners, per PFF.
A 2014 fourth-round pick out of Clemson, Breeland began his career with Washington and then had stints with the Packers and Chiefs before signing with Minnesota. It'll be interesting to see if the 29-year-old is signed by a cornerback-needy team.
The Vikings' CB depth isn't great, which adds to the peculiar nature of this move. Patrick Peterson and Dantzler are the starters on the outside, but the next options are Kris Boyd and practice squad players Tye Smith and Parry Nickerson. Mackensie Alexander starts in the slot, with Harrison Hand as his backup.
The Vikings play the Bears on Monday night.
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