5 new Vikings who could be cut before the 2022 season

Austin Schlottmann – OL

The Vikings have had some struggles on the interior of their offensive line so seeing them address it with a versatile interior offensive lineman like Austin Schlottman wasn’t a big surprise. What was a little more surprising was that according to PFF, his blocking was even worse than Garrett Bradbury’s who was pretty awful a season ago.

While Schlottmann maybe didn’t grade out the best, he does have some positives going for him. He’s a pretty big boy at 6-foot-6 and 300 pounds and has plenty of experience playing in 42 career games with seven starts.

The biggest positive he has going for him is that his former offensive line coach from Denver, Chris Kuper came to Minnesota in the offseason. He definitely knows what Schlottmann does well and what he can’t do. The fact he didn’t nix this deal, does say he believes Schlottmann has what it takes to not only compete for a spot on the roster but even be a valuable depth piece.

Schlottmann does have plenty of competition to make the squad though. Kevin O’Connell has had nothing but positive things to say about Bradbury, and the Vikings drafted Ed Ingram in the second round this year. Ingram was a guard at college, but he played center at the Senior Bowl, and he did it very well, so maybe a position change is in his future.

Schlottmann will enter camp on the roster bubble. He will need to impress mightily if he ever wants to wear a Minnesota jersey in a game that counts.