Inside The Vikings

Vikings Signing Veteran LB and Special Teamer Tanner Vallejo

Vallejo will add experience to the Vikings' special teams if he makes the 53-man roster.
Will Ragatz|
Vikings Signing Veteran LB and Special Teamer Tanner Vallejo
Vikings Signing Veteran LB and Special Teamer Tanner Vallejo

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Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings are signing veteran linebacker Tanner Vallejo, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. The 28-year-old is an experienced special teams player who has spent time with four different NFL franchises.

To make room on the roster, the team waived Williams Kwenkeu with an injury designation. Kwenkeu got hurt in the Vikings' preseason opener against the Seahawks.

Vallejo was drafted out of Boise State by the Bills in the sixth round in 2017. He then made stops in Cleveland and Washington before landing in Arizona, where he's been since 2019. Vallejo has appeared in 82 regular season games, starting eight of them. While he only has 687 career defensive snaps at linebacker, he's played over 1,500 snaps on special teams.

The 6'1", 230-pound Vallejo has played on basically every special teams unit, leading the Cardinals with 371 ST snaps last season. Assuming he makes the Vikings' 53-man roster, he'll add experience and versatility to Matt Daniels' special teams lineups.

The Vikings presumably won't want to use Vallejo on defense unless they have to. In the three seasons when he's played at least 100 defensive snaps, he's never earned a PFF grade above 42. Over the past two seasons, he's been dinged for abysmal tackling grades with 13 total missed tackles.

At inside linebacker, the Vikings have Jordan Hicks, Brian Asamoah, undrafted rookie sensation Ivan Pace Jr., Troy Reeder, and Troy Dye. Wilson Huber and Abraham Beauplan round out the room. If Vallejo makes the roster, he'll join players like C.J. Ham, Josh Metellus, and Dye as key special teams players for Daniels.

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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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