Vikings Waive Four Players, Place Kenny Willekes on Injured Reserve

The Vikings waived an undrafted rookie, a couple second-year players, and a veteran DE.

All 32 teams must trim their rosters from 80 players down to 53 by 3 p.m. central time on Saturday, but the Vikings have made their first wave of cuts a few days ahead of the official cutdown deadline.

Rookie defensive end Kenny Willekes has been placed on injured reserve, the team announced. The four players who were waived are rookie linebacker Jordan Fehr, defensive ends Anthony Zettel and Stacy Keely, and running back Tony Brooks-James.

The #Vikings have placed DE Kenny Willekes on IR and waived RB Tony Brooks-James, LB Jordan Fehr, DE Stacy Keely and DE Anthony Zettel.

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 2, 2020

Including recently-acquired defensive end Yannick Ngakoue and linebacker Ben Gedeon, who remains on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform list, the Vikings' roster is down to 76 players.

Willekes was seen walking around on crutches following the Vikings' scrimmage at U.S. Bank Stadium last Friday. The seventh-round pick from Michigan State has been placed on the team's injured reserve list, meaning he will still be part of the organization but won't count towards the active roster or practice squad as he recovers from his injury. Willekes joins linebacker Cameron Smith, who will miss the 2020 season while recovering from open-heart surgery, on the Vikings' IR.

Fehr is the surprising one of the four players who were waived. I had the UDFA from Appalachian State making the 53-man roster as the No. 5 linebacker, with the logic being that he had looked solid in camp. 

Instead, the Vikings will go with either Blake Lynch, Hardy Nickerson Jr., or David Reese II as their fifth LB. Nickerson is a three-year vet who played in 37 games with the Bengals. Lynch and Reese are undrafted rookies. Lynch was part of the Vikings' UDFA class and has spent all of camp with the team. Reese was originally signed by the Panthers and was picked up by the Vikings after Carolina waived him a week ago.

Zettel never panned out as a free-agent signing this offseason. The 28-year-old journeyman defensive lineman had a strong season for the Lions in 2017, but has bounced around the league since then and didn't impress in camp.

Keely spent last year on the Vikings' practice squad after impressing in a rookie tryout. He has intriguing size at 6'6", 250 pounds, but was buried on the depth chart at defensive end. The signing of Ngakoue was probably bad news for both Zettel and Keely.

Brooks-James was the team's No. 5 running back. Interestingly, they waived him earlier in camp and then brought him back not long after.

All four of Fehr, Zettel, Keely, and Brooks-James could be candidates to make the Vikings' 16-man practice squad if they pass through waivers.

23 more cuts are coming between now and 3 p.m. on Saturday.

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