To make room for Josh Doctson, Vikings cut an offensive lineman

The Minnesota Vikings officially announced the signing of wide receiver Josh Doctson on Tuesday and the team also released center Brett Jones.

Following last Saturday’s deadline to set their final 53-man roster, the Minnesota Vikings have continued to make transactions in order to improve their team for the upcoming season.

During the few days after their final cuts, the Vikings have signed punter Britton Colquitt and wide receiver Josh Docston.

In order for Minnesota to make room on their roster for Colquitt, the team went ahead and released punter Matt Wile. After making the Doctson signing official on Tuesday, the Vikings also revealed the departure of center Brett Jones to clear a spot for their new receiver.

With the decision to release Jones, Minnesota no longer has a definitive backup at center behind rookie Garrett Bradbury this season. If Bradbury were to go down for some reason this year, it’s likely that current left guard, Pat Elflein, would slide over to his old role at center.

It’s an interesting decision made by the Vikings to decrease the depth of what was arguably the weakest position group on their roster a season ago. Letting go of a tight end or a running back might have been the smarter move for Minnesota to make since both of these position groups each consist of four players.

But the Vikings clearly felt that they were better off keeping four tight ends and four running backs heading into the season instead of having 10 offensive linemen on their active roster.

Is this a decision that could end up haunting Minnesota this year? With the Vikings, there is always this potential. But hopefully, it won’t turn into something that steps in the way of their goals for 2019.