The Vikings have signed former Packers and Bears DT Bruce Gaston and waived DE B.J. Dubose.
Former sixth-round pick B.J. Dubose suffered an ACL injury during the second practice session of OTAs. On Tuesday, the Vikings waived B.J. Dubose and replaced him with former Bears and Packers DT Bruce Gaston.
Dubose was waived with the injury designation and could be signed to injured reserve after clearing waivers.
The 6-2, 310-pound Gaston played college ball at Purdue. He was signed by Arizona as a UDFA in 2014 and spent his rookie season bouncing from Arizona to New England to Miami to Arizona again to Green Bay, spending short stints on the active roster in Arizona, Miami and Green Bay.
In 2015, the Bears signed Gaston off the Packers’ practice squad and placed him on their active roster. He played in seven games for the Bears, notching eight tackles and one sack.
Gaston’s best game as a pro came last year against Denver when he racked up three tackles including his first (and so far only) career sack.
A power player who lacks pass rush moves, Gaston will have to battle to lock down a job as a backup nose tackle. Pre-draft scouting reports on Gaston noted that his motor does not run very high and he is not very good at using his hands.
The Vikings this offseason have also added former Gopher Theiren Cockran, former Titan Toby Johnson and former Eagle Travis Raciti to the defensive tackle mix.
Next: Spielman plan working so far
Minnesota returns starters Linval Joseph and Sharrif Floyd as well as top backups Tom Johnson, Kenrick Ellis and Shamar Stephen.
If nothing else, Gaston can offer some good intel about the Bears’ defense after spending the entire 2015 season on Chicago’s roster.
Gaston and the rest of the Vikings resume OTA workouts this week.