Vikings Camp — Sep 3: Brosmer Cut for a Center, Then Back

The four-quarterback roster we told you about lasted about a day. On Monday morning, holding the eighteenth waiver priority — Devon Platana at Vikings On SI had the claim order — Minnesota claimed guard Trevor Keegan off Dallas's cuts and center Nick Samac off Carolina's, and waived quarterback Max Brosmer and receiver Dillon Bell to make room, per Rob Kleifield at the team's site. That is the whole story of Sunday's 53 in one transaction: the beat expected either a Brosmer waiver or a McCarthy trade within days, and it was the waiver, the next morning, paid for by the interior of the offensive line. Keegan was Philadelphia's fifth-round pick in 2024 out of Michigan, a captain of the 2023 national championship team, who played six offensive snaps for Dallas in Week 5 last year and appeared in two games before a neck injury put him on injured reserve in October, per Kleifield. Samac was Baltimore's seventh-round pick the same year, out of Michigan State, and played 11 games on special teams for Carolina last season. The center position had been a major red flag this preseason, in Platana's phrase, and the front office decided it was worth more than a fourth quarterback and a sixth receiver. The 53 as it stood Monday night carried two centers, four guards and four tackles.

Then Wednesday closed the loop. Brosmer and Bell both cleared waivers and re-signed to the practice squad, per Kleifield — Bell, the undrafted Georgia receiver we told you made the 53 out of a crowded room, back two days after being cut to fit the claims, per Jason Harmon at Vikings On SI. The same day, the edge shortage our last episode counted as four healthy outside linebackers got its answer: outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy, 35, signed to the practice squad, per Kleifield. Darren Wolfson at KSTP had him on the radar Tuesday with a visit expected, and Harmon, at SKOR North, reported the next day that the visit had gone well; Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk has the résumé — a hundred and 73 regular-season games, a hundred and 15 starts, 57 career sacks, and two Super Bowls in four years alongside Brian Flores in New England, with another year together in Miami. K. Joudry at Vikings Territory expects him to work as the third edge rusher, in a room Brevan Bane at PurplePTSD counts as Dallas Turner, Andrew Van Ginkel, Bo Richter, Chaz Chambliss and Van Noy, and the reason is Tyler Batty's torn knee ligament.

The practice squad turned over three times in three days. 15 signed Monday, per the team's transaction log, 14 of them Vikings from camp — among them cornerback Bryce Phillips, whose storyline we declared dead in our last episode after he was cut a week after arriving; it survived, in practice-squad form. Veteran safety Tavierre Thomas, whose contract the team terminated Sunday, took a squad deal Monday. Receivers Michael Briscoe and Trayvon Rudolph, whom we listed as lost to the wire, came back. Tuesday: tight end Cam Grandy, from Cincinnati, and defensive lineman Naquan Jones, who has played for five teams, signed, and tight end Marshall Lang was released, per Craig Peters at the team's site and Joudry. Wednesday: Van Noy, Brosmer, Bell and running back DeeJay Dallas in — Dallas a Seattle fourth-rounder in 2020 with 84 games, reunited with Teasley, per Kleifield — and outside linebacker Cam'Ron Stewart, center Gavin Gerhardt, tackle Tristan Leigh and guard Joshua Gray out. 16 as of Wednesday, by the team's own log. Teasley's line on it, per Joudry: "building up a roster is a long process that never fully ends."

Where the rest of Sunday's cuts went is mostly nowhere yet. One Viking signed elsewhere — running back Zavier Scott, to Chicago's practice squad, and Wolfson reported the Bears got him despite Minnesota's interest in keeping him. Nobody from Sunday's cuts was claimed off waivers by another team. 13 of the 36 cut were unsigned free agents as of Wednesday, per Adam Carlson at Vikings On SI, punter Johnny Hekker among them. Tackle Walter Rouse went to New England in Sunday's pick swap — Rouse and a 2027 seventh for a 2027 sixth, per Kleifield. And the ledger from our last episode — 24 waived, six waived with injury designations, four vested veterans terminated, Batty to season-ending injured reserve, Michael Jurgens to injured reserve with a return designation, Jeshaun Jones to the reserve/suspended list for three games — matches the team's own release line for line. Five of the six waived with injury designations had reverted to injured reserve by Wednesday, per Carlson.

The quarterback who is not on the practice squad got the direct question. Nolan Teasley met the media Wednesday and was asked whether J.J. McCarthy would be on the roster in Week 1. "I do," he said, per Joudry. On McCarthy's role, per Bane: "to continue to develop, to improve, and to support his teammates." And the longer version: "He was picked in the first round for a reason. Really good arm strength, underrated athlete." And then: "the thing you need to keep in mind with J.J. is that he has the hardest job in sports. He's only started 10 games, and his story's not written." He declined to name a backup — "I wouldn't really necessarily comment on depth." The ankle is the one place the reporting pulls two ways: Adam Schefter at ESPN reported Monday that the sprain is "a multi-week injury," per Tyler Forness at A to Z Sports, and Teasley said Wednesday that McCarthy had practiced fully the previous two days, per Bane. Both are on the record. We are not picking.

Back in July we previewed Minnesota as the division's loudest bounce-back case — the scheme, the coordinator and Justin Jefferson all retained, and the whole bet resting on getting merely average quarterback play. The floor under it: nine and eight, an offense that ranked 20-eighth in expected points added per play — the measure of how much each snap moved the expected score — and 20-ninth throwing the ball, carried by a defense that was fourth in the league by the same measure, with 49 sacks, tied for fourth. Cut day hardened the premise without testing it. This week settled the room to three, said out loud that the first-round quarterback stays, and reinforced the interior of the line that protects whoever plays. The bet is exactly where July left it. It gets its first test in 10 days.

Next is the Packers, Sunday, September 13, at U.S. Bank Stadium. What to watch: whether Keegan or Samac is in the starting five by then, and whether Van Noy is elevated for the opener. The Recap follows the game.

_Data via nflverse._