5 forgotten former members of the Minnesota Vikings

Jake Long – OT

This is the one free agent signing made by the Vikings that I actually had to Google to see if it really happened. Turns out it did and I wasn’t misremembering like Roger Clemens once did.

Jake Long is the highest profile name of the players that are included on this list, as he is a former first overall draft pick. He was taken first overall by the Miami Dolphins back in the 2008 NFL Draft.

Long lived up to the hype and he ended up starting 74 games for the Dolphins. He then played for the St. Louis Rams for a couple of seasons before having a brief stint with the Atlanta Falcons. He entered the 2016 season without a team and many figured his career in the league was finished.

In 2016, the Vikings’ offensive line was ravished by injuries. Starting left tackle Matt Kalil sustained a hip injury in Week 2 that resulted in him missing the majority of the season and then Minnesota’s starting right tackle, Andre Smith, went down with an injury in Week 4 that also knocked him out for the rest of the year.

The Vikings knew they had to bring in someone and that someone ended up being former first-round pick, Jake Long.

Long had a connection to Minnesota’s offensive line coach at the time, Tony Sparano, as they were together in Miami for a handful of seasons. So the move made sense for both parties.

Long came in and played in four games (starting three) for the Vikings. He played decently but then in Week 10, he hurt his Achilles against the Washington Redskins and he too was lost for the season.

Long never fully recovered from the injury and he ended up just retiring from the league in 2017.

It’s uncertain how history will regard Long and his time in the NFL. But his 99 career starts is a very impressive number and he definitely lived up to the expectations he was given after being a No. 1 draft pick.