Minnesota Vikings make four roster moves on Monday, including moving on from a surprise player
Roster moves ahead of the final preseason game are pretty normal, and the Minnesota Vikings have done just that.
The Minnesota Vikings are six days away from cutdown day and they continue to make moves to improve the roster. On Monday afternoon, they did just that by signing defensive tackle Jonathan Harris and tight end Matt Lauter. In turn, they waived cornerback Tyreek Chappell and defensive tackle Taki Taimani with an injury designation.
Minnesota Vikings make four roster moves
Harris is entering his third stint with the Vikings. He initially signed on the practice squad on December 26th, 2024, and spent the 2025 offseason with the franchise. After being cut on cutdown day, Harris was on the practice squad all season, and wasn’t retained to a futures contract.
Coming in this late could mean one of two things: either Harris has a real shot to make the roster, or he’s going to be a snap eater for the preseason. He’s played in 40 career games with nine starts with 1.0 sacks, 91 tackles, and 7.0 tackles for loss.
Lauter is an undrafted free agent out of Boise State. He’s already been with the Las Vegas Raiders and most recently the Tennessee Titans. He was waived on August 21st.
Chappell was signed as an undrafted free agent from the Texas A&M Aggies, and played in the preseason opener against the New York Giants. He got in the game for 15 snaps, with nine of them on defense. Chappell didn’t play against the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday.
The real surprise was Taimani. He was signed as a UDFA from the Oregon Ducks in 2024 and made the 53-man roster as rookie. He played in seven games, and followed it up by playing in two games as a practice squad player in 2025. The nose tackle position got a lot stronger this offseason with the selection of Domonique Orange. Even so, it’s a surprise cut, as he played well in the first two preseason games.
