Minnesota Vikings: Projecting the initial 53-man roster, cuts loom Tuesday

FOX 9 Sports Now: Vikings face decisions at back-up quarterback

With the Vikings having to make roster cuts by Tuesday, they have a decision to make between Sean Mannion and Kellen Mond after trading for Nick Mullens.

MINNEAPOLIS - Preseason football is over, and Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium is less than two weeks away.

The Minnesota Vikings have to trim their roster from 80 to an initial 53 by 3 p.m. Tuesday, and they already started that process. On Monday, the Vikings placed TY McGill and Bisi Johnson on injured reserve. Johnson tore his ACL Saturday night against the Broncos, ending his 2022 season. McGill suffered an ankle injury early and didn’t return.

FOX 9 Sports Now: Vikings roster cuts, who stays and who goes?

The Minnesota Vikings have to cut their roster from 80 to 53 on Tuesday. Jim Rich and Pete Bercich break down what decisions they have to make.

The Vikings also released or waived Tye Smith, Myron Mitchell and Timon Parris. They have 22 more moves to make on Wednesday, and can put up to 16 players on the practice squad, including six veterans.

Here’s a look at the position groups heading into Tuesday.

QUARTERBACKS

Making team – Kirk Cousins, Nick Mullens

Cut or practice squad – Kellen Mond, Sean Mannion. Neither showed during training camp or the preseason they are capable of running the Vikings’ offense if Cousins goes down. That’s why they traded for Mullens. The obvious path is to cut Mannion and try to get Mond to the practice squad.

RUNNING BACKS

Making team – Dalvin Cook, Alexander Mattison, Kene Nwangwu, Ty Chandler

Reports emerged Monday that the Vikings are taking calls to possibly trade Mattison. That’s worth monitoring as roster cuts start coming down Tuesday.

Cut or practice squad – Bryant Koback

FULLBACK

CJ Ham

TIGHT ENDS

Making team – Irv Smith Jr., Johnny Mundt, Ben Ellefson

Cut or practice squad – Zach Davidson, Nick Muse

WIDE RECEIVERS

Making team – Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, KJ Osborn, Jailen Nailor, Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Trishton Jackson

Cut or practice squad – Myron Mitchell, Dan Chisena

OFFENSIVE LINE

Making team – Christian Darrisaw, Ezra Cleveland, Garrett Bradbury, Ed Ingram, Brian O’Neill, Jesse Davis, Chris Reed, Austin Schlottmann, Blake Brandel

Cut or practice squad – Vederian Lowe, Josh Sokol, Wyatt Davis, Kyle Hinton, Oli Udoh

Ed Ingram has been the surprise of the offensive line at training camp, earning first-team reps ever since the first preseason game. He’s in line to get the starting job over Jesse Davis at right guard.

DEFENSIVE LINE

Making team – Danielle Hunter, Za’Darius Smith, Harrison Phillips, Dalvin Tomlinson, Armon Watts, D.J. Wonnum, James Lynch, Jaylen Twyman, Patrick Jones II, Janarius Robinson

Cut or practice squad – Esezi Otomewo, Jonathan Bullard, T.J. Smith, Luiji Vilain, Zach McLoud

McGill’s surprise release on Monday after 3.5 sacks in the preseason was injury-related. Decisions for depth along the defensive line will be interesting.

LINEBACKERS

Making team – Eric Kendricks, Jordan Hicks, Troy Dye, Brian Asamoah

Cut or practice squad – Chazz Surratt, Blake Lynch, William KwenKeu

DEFENSIVE BACKS

Making team – Patrick Peterson, Cam Dantzler, Chandon Sullivan, Andrew Booth Jr., Kris Boyd, Akayleb Evans

Cut or practice squad – Nate Hairston, Parry Nickerson

SAFETIES

Making team – Harrison Smith, Cam Bynum, Lewis Cine, Josh Metellus

Cut or practice squad – Myles Dorn, Mike Brown

SPECIALISTS

Making team – Greg Joseph, Ryan Wright, Andrew DePaola