Vikings move on from former 2020 fifth-round draft pick

The Minnesota Vikings decided to waive cornerback Harrison Hand on Tuesday as they continue to build their roster for the 2022 season.

Heading into the 2020 offseason, the Minnesota Vikings had to make a bunch of difficult roster decisions that resulted in them parting ways with some very talented defenders, including Xavier Rhodes, Linval Joseph, Everson Griffen, and Trae Waynes.

With limited funds available, the Vikings attempted to replace these veterans with young players from the draft. So in the 2020 NFL Draft, Minnesota ended up selecting a whopping 15 prospects, headlined by Justin Jefferson.

Harrison Hand was among the 15 players the Vikings drafted in 2020 when the team used one of their two fifth-round picks on the former Temple cornerback. Hand was able to stick around with Minnesota for the last two seasons, but on Tuesday, his tenure with the team came to an end.

Minnesota Vikings make necessary moves to trim roster to 80 players by Tuesday’s deadline

As part of their effort to get their roster down to the required 80-player limit by Tuesday’s deadline, the Vikings waived Hand and tight end Shaun Beyer in addition to placing linebacker Ryan Connelly and wide receiver Blake Proehl on the reserve/physically unable to perform list.

After a rookie season where he got a decent amount of playing time with Minnesota, Hand only managed to be on the field for a grand total of two defensive snaps in 2021. This departure shouldn’t come as a huge surprise as the Vikings were clearly looking for other options in their secondary this year with the additions of Andrew Booth Jr., Chandon Sullivan, Akayleb Evans, and Nate Hairston during the past few months.

Beyer was signed by Minnesota in July right before the start of training camp, and he clearly didn’t make a big enough impact to stick around for the team’s final preseason 2022 game this weekend.

The Vikings’ final round of cuts to trim the roster from 80 players to 53 will have to be completed by next Tuesday, August 30th at 3 p.m. CT.