The Vikings were in need of another cornerback after the departure of Marcell Gipson who left camp due to the death of his grandmother and elected not to return. Carter will compete with several other nondescript defensive back candidates – Devon Torrence, Marcus Sherels, Brandon Burton – for a spot on the depth chart behind the top four of Winfield, Griffin, Allen and Cook.

In two seasons with Denver and New England Carter has played in four games, amassing four tackles, 1 recovered fumble and 1 bat-down.

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Carter was a practice squad player for the Patriots in 2010 until late in the year when he was placed on the active roster to protect him from being claimed by another team. The undersized DB is a practice beast – he won two “practice player of the week” awards in New England – who in two NFL seasons has appeared in only four total games, starting one for the Denver Broncos in 2009. Some observers were surprised to see him cut early in camp by the Patriots, given his practice habits and potential value as a special teamer.

The Vikings’ interest in Carter could signal a lack of satisfaction with the team’s current depth at cornerback. After starters Antoine Winfield and Cedric Griffin, who we are told is on-track to start the season after recovering from his ACL tear, the depth chart features Asher Allen and Chris Cook, then drops off to guys like Marcus Sherels, Cord Parks and Brandon Burton. Carter at least would give the Vikings a new guy to add to the mix. He’s small at 5-9, but then again, Winfield and Allen are also 5-9, so clearly the Vikings are not scared off by tiny DBs.

If we learned anything from the 2010 season, it’s that you can never have enough cornerbacks.

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