Mike Kafka waived by Vikings, roster now at 75

The Minnesota Vikings needed to cut one more player before today’s deadline to get down to 75. And that one player turned out to be quarterback Mike Kafka.

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The 28-year-old Kafka was waived with the injured designation after suffering a hamstring injury. The Vikings might have considered keeping Kafka on the roster through Thursday’s preseason game but the injury made that a moot question.

Kafka was signed by the Vikings after participating in this spring’s veteran combine in Arizona. The Vikings signed two players out of that combine, Kafka and Caesar Rayford, but neither made it through first cuts.

Though Kafka didn’t look particularly good this preseason, he might still have made the team as a third QB had it not been for the emergence of rookie UDFA Taylor Heinicke, who looks like a legit developmental prospect after a strong showing on the field.

Mr. Heinicke will get another long look Thursday as the Vikings close out the preseason against Tennessee. There’s a decent chance Minnesota will let him play the whole game just to preserve backup Shaun Hill.

The Vikings made several moves over the past couple days to get down to the 75-man roster limit, including placing Josh Robinson on regular season PUP and waiving OT Carter Bykowski.

The next round of cuts come Saturday and there will be some tough decisions for the Vikings.

We may have gotten a hint about the cuts to come when Chase Ford and Brian Peters were both pulled from practice on Monday. It’s likely the Vikings pulled them to ensure they wouldn’t get injured while the team mulled which player to release.

Next: Mick Tingelhoff enters Hall of Fame

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