Vikings Rumors: Draft picks could be let go before start of preseason

Beginning the preseason with a smaller roster is one of the latest Minnesota Vikings rumors.

With the NFL still attempting to figure out a plan for this year’s preseason, one of the most recent Minnesota Vikings rumors involves the team entering their exhibition campaign much smaller roster than usual.

Typically, the Vikings and every other team around the league enter their first preseason game with 90 players on their roster. But with the possibility of this year’s preseason being reduced to one or two games, the NFLPA is reportedly discussing the possibility of decreasing each team’s summer roster to 75 or 80 players according to USA Today’s Mike Jones on Tuesday.

Jones also added that not every member of the NFLPA is in favor of something like this since it would obviously mean fewer opportunities for guys to earn roster spots for the upcoming season.

Vikings Rumors: How a roster reduction could impact Minnesota

Over the years, the Vikings have been able to discover a bunch of talent from the groups of undrafted players they’ve brought in for training camp and the preseason. If Minnesota reduces their roster by at least 10 spots this year though, the undrafted rookies are likely going to be among the first ones to go.

It’s even possible that the Vikings could choose to let go of some of the prospects they acquired in this year’s NFL Draft. Minnesota selected four players in the seventh round last April (Kenny Willekes, Nate Stanley, Brian Cole II, Kyle Hinton) and the team might decide to part ways with some of them if they feel like a few of their undrafted rookies have more upside.

Some of the undrafted players that could potentially stick around include wide receiver Quartney Davis, safety Myles Dorn, and cornerback Nevelle Clarke.

It’s unfortunate that this is something the Vikings and every other team around the league might have to do. There have been so many undrafted players who have emerged as some of the best to ever step on an NFL field and now, a bunch of these unknown rookies could potentially miss out on a great career in the league.

Nothing has been confirmed, or even proposed, as of Tuesday though. And even though reducing the roster sizes might seem smarter or safer with the COVID-19 pandemic still going on, eliminating 10 to 15 roster spots for each team before the preseason seems like something that would be incredibly hard for every player around the NFL to agree to.