Update: Cuts

Sean Jensen of the Pioneer-Press reports that TE Richard Owens has been cut. Owens’s agent calls this development a surprise – I’d call it a mild surprise, but nothing anyone is going to be too upset about.

It appears now that the team will only be carrying two legit tight ends – Visanthe Shiancoe and Jim Kleinsasser. Jeff Dugan would then be a sort of swing-man TE/FB. Could this be a way to keep Naufahu Tahi on the squad?

Jensen also expects WR Billy McMullen and RB Ciatrick Fason to be getting some bad news in the next few hours. The signing of Robert Ferguson doomed McMullen, and his dumb-ass unnecessary roughness penalty last night didn’t help him. As for Fason – don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, Ciatrick.

Update: Judd Zulgad confirms the Richard Owens cut, and adds two more not-shocking names to the list of now-former Vikings: DB Patrick Body and LB George Hall.

Update #2: WR Billy McMullen is officially gone. So are C Kyle Cook, DT Howard Green, WR Cortez Hankton and C Norm Katnik. The Green cut would seem to indicate that Fred Evans has made the squad. We appear to have cut both our back-up centers – I don’t know what that means yet.

Update #3: The Ciatrick Fason cut has been confirmed. This does not sadden me.

Update #4: Two more go down – CB Chad Johnson and OT Jimmy Martin. WR Keenan McCardell has been cut by the Houston Texans – just another name to throw into the potential receiver mix.

Update #5: Greg Blue had a solid last preseason game against Dallas – but it wasn’t enough to win him a spot on the Vikings roster. The team’s decision to let Blue go may signal their desire to sign S Nick Sorensen, a special teams specialist who was cut by Jacksonville and brought in by the Vikings for a look. The team definitely needs help on punt and kick coverage.

Joining Blue on the cut list today are LB David Herron, WR Jason Carter, CB Dovonte Edwards and TE Stephen Spach. Edwards’s agent Ray Savage said the following after news of his client’s release:

"I’m really ticked off about the situation. The kid had a great camp regardless of what the organization said. I think it was a situation where they knew who they wanted to keep, period."

Yeah, Ray – they knew they wanted to keep the best players. Your boy wasn’t one of them. Them’s the breaks.

Update #6: The cuts have all been officially announced. Add to the previously revealed names the following:

• DT Conrad Bolston
• WR Martin Nance
• RB Artose Pinner
• DE Khreem Smith
• QB Tyler Thigpen
• WR Chandler Williams

The Pinner cut means the team will only be carrying three running backs. As I guessed earlier, Naufahu Tahi was kept instead of Richard Owens, giving the team three fullbacks, with Jeff Dugan as a sort of FB/TE combo. Tahi’s size could make him a good short-yardage option. Also, the team has elected to keep only 5 receivers – which will no doubt fuel more speculation that an acquisition at that position is in the works (did I just sound like Jesse Jackson?). We will have to keep our eyes on the waiver wires for the names of wide-outs. Keenan McCardell is already out there, but he seems done. Tyler Thigpen is expected to be kept on the practice squad, as is Chandler Williams. Access Vikings has the up-to-date depth chart.