Blake Cashman comes home: ‘Damn, I’m a Minnesota Viking now’

Blake Cashman signs with hometown Vikings

Former Eden Prairie and Gophers football star signed with the Minnesota Vikings in free agency after five seasons with the Houston Texans.

EAGAN (FOX 9) - Blake Cashman is still soaking in the reality that he’ll wear a Minnesota Vikings jersey for the 2024 season.

Cashman, and Eden Prairie native, was a walk-on at the University of Minnesota before P.J. Fleck put him on scholarship for his final season. He was one of Fleck’s first players drafted, going to the New York Jets in the fifth round in 2019.

Cashman spent three seasons with the Jets before being traded to the Houston Texans in 2022, and was in Houston earlier this week when he got a call. He agreed to terms with the Vikings on a three-year deal. Cashman was coming home.

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"I just wake up everyday like, ‘Damn, I’m a Minnesota Viking now.’ You can’t draw it up or ask for it any better. Not many players get this opportunity, I’m going to enjoy it and I want to make everybody proud," Cashman said Thursday at TCO Performance Center.

The first person he called? His girlfriend – they had to start plans for a move to Minnesota. Before he could call his parents or his brother, he found out he would be teammates again with Texans’ edge rusher Jonathan Greenard, who also signed with the Vikings. The two sat next to each other Thursday.

"I was still in Houston, the first person I called was my girlfriend to update her on the situation. Before I called my mom, my dad, my brother, I was on the phone with this guy right here," Cashman said, pointing to Greenard. "We immediately were sharing our excitement and congratulating each other."

Cashman comes back home after having the best season of his young career. He had 106 tackles in 13 starts. Greenard said the Texans were at their best last season when Cashman was the defensive leader. He could be asked to do the same in Minnesota alongside Ivan Pace Jr., with Jordan Hicks gone in free agency.

His phone has been busy since his return became official. One of the first to reach out to him was Fleck.

"I’ve had the same phone number since I was 16, so I had people I hadn’t seen or heard from in high school congratulating me. That’s what made it so special," Cashman said.