Minnesota Vikings sign kicker to practice squad and elevate cornerback

The Minnesota Vikings have announced two transactions ahead of Sunday’s game against the Bears.

One look at the roster and injury report of the Minnesota Vikings and it’s easy to see that the team has been decimated by injuries this year. Many of their star players and key contributors have missed part of all of the 2020 NFL season and their play on the field makes these absences extremely noticeable at times.

Still, the Vikings need to do everything they can do to give the team their best chance to win each week. For that reason, Minnesota has been making many small transactions in an attempt to keep talent available.

Sunday’s matchup against the Chicago Bears will be a tough one. The two teams are still in the playoff hunt and the winner of this game will greatly improve their chances of making the postseason. For that reason, some adjustments to the roster needed to be made.

The Minnesota Vikings announced two transactions on Sunday on their official Twitter account:

Elevating Cordrea Tankersley to the 53-man roster makes sense. A third-round pick of the Dolphins in 2017, the cornerback showed potential at Clemson before starting 11 games and playing in 17 for Miami where he defended seven passes with 36 combined tackles and one tackle for a loss. He will be available immediately for Minnesota since he was on the team’s practice squad.

However, the most important part of this statement is the signing of a new kicker. The struggles of Dan Bailey are well-noted by Vikings fans and the release of practice squad kicker Tristan Vizcaino on Tuesday was a bit eyebrow-raising.

Now, the Vikings have signed Taylor Bertolet to their practice squad. Bertolet has bounced around the league a lot, being part of six other teams’ practice squads since joining the NFL out of Texas A&M in 2016. He was also a member of the AAF’s Salt Lake Stallions.

In the AAF, Bertolet made nine of his 14 field goal tries. Two of those makes came from 53 yards out, proving that he does have enough power in his leg to make longer kicks if needed. However, 64% accuracy on field goals might be enough to scare some people looking for a kicker to make kicks on a regular basis.

Don’t expect the new kicker to replace Bailey any time soon. Any new signing must wait out COVID-19 protocol for ten days, meaning Minnesota will need to move forward with Bailey for at least the next two games. If Bailey does struggle, there is a chance Bertolet could play in the team’s regular-season finale.

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Minnesota Vikings fans need to hope that Dan Bailey will iron his issues out and return to form this season. While it’s nice to have a kicker ready on the practice squad, it would be hard to move on from Bailey any time soon.