Who will the the Vikings replace Sheldon Richardson with in 2019?

Current Roster Options

Shamar Stephen

After spending the 2018 season with the Seattle Seahawks, the Vikings’ former 2014 seventh-round pick has signed a two-year deal to come back to the Twin Cities. Stephen started 14 games for the Seahawks last season and racked up a total of 25 tackles, three quarterback hits, and two sacks.

Jaleel Johnson

Johnson was Minnesota’s fourth-round selection in 2017 and he hasn’t seen much of the field since joining the team.

He did get the opportunity to start last season during the Vikings’ Week 7 win over the New York Jets. Johnson finished the matchup with four tackles, one quarterback hit, and 0.5 sacks.

Jalyn Holmes

Taken by Minnesota in the fourth round of last year’s NFL Draft, Holmes barely saw the field during his rookie season (just 58 snaps). So he will need to take some major steps this offseason in order for the Vikings to actually consider him as a possibility to replace Richardson in 2019.

Hercules Mata’afa

A possible dark horse in this race, especially since Mata’afa probably won’t be lining up as a defensive tackle for Minnesota (he’s only 254 pounds). But it was where he played during his college days at Washington State and he performed very well.

Unfortunately, he’s coming off of a torn ACL and there’s no timetable yet for when he will be ready to play in 2019.