Vikings make roster moves to fortify multiple spots ahead of Sunday’s game vs. Buccaneers, and it sends a strong signal about one in particular
The Minnesota Vikings made several moves ahead of their trip to Tampa Bay, and they signal quite a bit about the team’s short-term plans.
The Minnesota Vikings made a series of roster moves ahead of their Week 3 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, signing punter Johnny Hekker to the 53-man roster, placing center Nick Samac on injured reserve, and elevating safety Tavierre Thomas and edge rusher Kyle Van Noy from the practice squad.
These moves send a lot of signals about where the Vikings stand with their roster heading into Sunday.
Minnesota Vikings make multiple roster moves
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell was upfront earlier in the week about punter Brett Thorson’s potential to miss multiple games and their plan to place him on the practice squad. Signing Hekker to the 53-man roster makes that transition smoother. Even if the Vikings expect Thorson to miss around four games, having Hekker on the 53-man roster for a week and then placing him back on the practice squad would still give them three elevations to work with. It’s a smart bit of roster management that gives Minnesota flexibility at the position.
Samac has not played a game for the Vikings since being claimed after cutdown day. This may be a situation where he stays on injured reserve the entire season. How that ends up manifesting remains to be seen, but the Vikings clearly needed the roster spot, and Simak’s inability to get on the field made this an easy decision.
The elevations make a lot of sense for different reasons. This is the final elevation for Van Noy, who has already been elevated twice this season as the third edge rusher. The Vikings may end up bringing him onto the active roster after the game, going into their Week 4 matchup against the Miami Dolphins without having to worry about their backup edge rusher.
Thomas’ elevation is a simpler one: he’s Ivan Pace Jr. insurance. The Vikings signed Thomas to be a special teams veteran who can make an impact, and having him available in case Pace cannot play makes sense. Pace was not able to travel with the team to Tampa Bay and is questionable for the game on Sunday. If Pace does play, the Vikings can still use Thomas as another special teams weapon.
