Inside The Vikings

Vikings CB Moves: Joejuan Williams Out, NaJee Thompson In

Going over a couple of the Vikings' latest roster moves of note on cutdown day.
Will Ragatz|
Vikings CB Moves: Joejuan Williams Out, NaJee Thompson In
Vikings CB Moves: Joejuan Williams Out, NaJee Thompson In

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Minnesota Vikings

Let's go over two of the Vikings' recent notable cutdown-day roster moves at the cornerback position.

You can track all of the day's moves right here.

NaJee Thompson expected to make roster

Reports emerged on Tuesday — from multiple well-respected insiders — that the Vikings were waiving cornerback NaJee Thompson, who became a fan favorite in the preseason with his standout play as a punt gunner on special teams.

Apparently, that was a miscommunication from the team. As it turns out, they're not waiving Thompson and he's expected to be on the initial 53-man roster that will be announced this afternoon.

Thompson, an undrafted rookie from Georgia Southern, is a great story. He was an incredible special teams player in college and came to the NFL focused on making an impact in that phase. Thompson did just that, making a highly-impressive tackle as a punt gunner in the first preseason game against the Seahawks and then doing it again the next week against the Titans.

Now it looks like he'll be gunning punts in the regular season for the Vikings.

Veteran Joejuan Williams released

Williams was signed to a one-year deal this offseason. The Patriots' second-round pick in 2019 seemed to be in the mix for playing time this year, beginning camp as a starting cornerback alongside Byron Murphy Jr. and Akayleb Evans. But it wasn't long before rookie Mekhi Blackmon leapfrogged him on the depth chart.

This is a slightly surprising move, given that Williams had a solid preseason and has the length to theoretically fit well as a man-coverage corner in Brian Flores' scheme.

In addition to Murphy, Evans, Blackmon, and Thompson, 2022 second-rounder Andrew Booth Jr. figures to make the roster. The Vikings could also be in the market to sign or trade for a veteran cornerback (Desmond King? Bradley Roby?) this week.

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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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