Vikings Waive OT Evin Ksiezarczyk, Reach Injury Settlement with Kicker Riley Patterson

The Vikings announced a pair of roster moves on Wednesday afternoon: they've waived reserve offensive tackle Evin Ksiezarczyk and reached an injury settlement with kicker Riley Patterson, who was waived last week.

Cutting Ksiezarczyk gets the roster down to 79 players, one below the maximum. The fact that they're doing it now seems to suggest that an addition is coming as early as later this afternoon, whether via a waiver claim or a standard free agent signing. Otherwise, why not wait until the roster cutdown deadline next week to cut Ksiezarczyk?

Three names come to mind as recently-cut players who could help the Vikings: former Chiefs safety Will Parks, former Colts kicker Eddy Piñeiro, and former Packers linebacker Kamal Martin.

Update: the Vikings worked out offensive tackle Roderick Johnson on Wednesday, a 6'6" former fifth-rounder who has made six starts for the Texans over the past two seasons.

Looks like Ksiezarczyk cut could be to make room for a different OT.

Roderick Johnson was a teammate of Dalvin Cook's at FSU, a fifth-rounder in 2017, and played over 600 snaps for the Texans from 2019-20 with a PFF grade in the mid-60s.https://t.co/3uCqtJDard
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) August 25, 2021

The Vikings have been interested in Parks for a few years now and don't have any veteran backup safeties at the moment, so that could be a good fit. Martin, a Minnesota native who played for the Gophers, had a good rookie year in Green Bay but fell out of favor this offseason. The Vikings' depth at linebacker stepped up in the last preseason game, but there could still be room for Martin due to Anthony Barr's injury and the lack of big, physical, downhill LBs currently on the roster. Guys like Troy Dye and Chazz Surratt are lighter, more coverage-oriented linebackers.

The most obvious position for an addition to the roster is probably kicker, where Piñeiro stands out as the top option. Greg Joseph has been simply decent during training camp and the preseason, missing a 51-yarder against the Colts and making only 7 of 11 kicks at the Vikings' scrimmage on Tuesday. Piñeiro had a great camp and was only cut because Rodrigo Blankenship was equally good. The Vikings saw Piñeiro's abilities up close this past weekend, as he made all three of his field goal attempts, one of which was a 50-yarder.

With Patterson being waived with an injury settlement, he won't be on the Vikings' injured reserve. He's now a free agent.

Ksiezarczyk was a 2020 UDFA out of Buffalo who the Vikings signed as a tryout player at rookie minicamp in the spring. He seemed to lose ground in the competition at backup right tackle to Zack Bailey as camp progressed.

Make sure to stay tuned for any news of a Vikings addition to the roster to get back to 80 players.

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