Initial 53-Man Roster for 2026

Only 8 OL makes me nervous. Am glad we kept CB Vaughn and P Thorson.

Why the F is Brosmer still here? Placeholder to get the boot if someone releases an OL we like?

RS_Express wrote:

Only 8 OL makes me nervous. Am glad we kept CB Vaughn and P Thorson.
Why the F is Brosmer still here? Placeholder to get the boot if someone releases an OL we like?

I did not expect 4 qb's on the 53...

But thinking about it more?

K1 and JJM both have injury histories and that could leave (gulp) Wentzmer as the only Qb's in the bldg...

Only mild surprises to me are Claiborne over Scott, but the Vikings are wise to go with the upside. Scot will likely go to the PS. Bell making the 53 is a surprise. Keeping 6 WR is a mild surprise. Sounds like Michael Jurgens will go on short term IR, so they'll need a spot for him in, what is it, 4 weeks?

Thorson has been good but moving off Hekker is pretty darn surprising to me.

Also… Brosmer? 🤨

Other transactions to note:

Injured Reserve

OLB Tyler Batty ~ Tore his ACL and is out for the season.

Traded

OL Walter Rouse & a 2027 - 7th round pick to N.E. We're receiving 2027 - 6th round pick in return. A note on the Walter Rouse deal — the pick the Vikings sent to the Patriots is originally from Philadelphia, and the pick the Vikings received back was originally Minnesota’s.

pattersaur wrote:

Thorson has been good but moving off Hekker is pretty darn surprising to me.
Also… Brosmer? 🤨

I don't think they're done at QB. They'll likely see where the pieces are after the dust settles and make a move (or not) then.

RS_Express wrote:

Only 8 OL makes me nervous. Am glad we kept CB Vaughn and P Thorson.
Why the F is Brosmer still here? Placeholder to get the boot if someone releases an OL we like?

I think 8 becomes 9 when Jurgens returns and they'll trim some fat somewhere else.

Looks like they want Bell for special teams, replacing Tavierre Thomas. It makes sense. Hard to believe they kept Brosmer. I thought he could get to the practice squad, and if not, it would not Abe big loss. Like RS_Express said, he's probably a place holder. Keeping him now makes it more likely they can get him to the practice squad later.

True but terrifying fact: The Vikings technically don’t have a single true center on their active 53-man roster.

— Jason Harmon (@JasonHarmonNFL) August 30, 2026

All of the Vikings' moves today. Includes placing backup C Michael Jurgens on short-term IR. With rookie C Gavin Gerhardt waived, it appears Joe Huber is the backup to Blake Brandel unless more moves are forthcoming. pic.twitter.com/2kXIjFcuPY

— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) August 30, 2026

MaroonBells wrote:

Only mild surprises to me are Claiborne over Scott, but the Vikings are wise to go with the upside. Scot will likely go to the PS. Bell making the 53 is a surprise. Keeping 6 WR is a mild surprise. Sounds like Michael Jurgens will go on short term IR, so they'll need a spot for him in, what is it, 4 weeks?

Yes, I don't see how Bell beat out Fleming

FLVike wrote:

Yes, I don't see how Bell beat out Fleming

Pretty simple. The calculation is that Bell would be claimed and Fleming likely won’t.

purplefaithful wrote:

I did not expect 4 qb's on the 53...
But thinking about it more?
K1 and JJM both have injury histories and that could leave (gulp) Wentzmer as the only Qb's in the bldg...

Honestly, if you need 4 QBs on your roster you're doing it wrong. I see 3 other teams did the same thing, my guess is things aren't set yet. We've got the longest time ever between final roster cuts and the start of the regular season....more to come should be probably expected.

We better hope the starters remain healthy because I'm concerned about the depth quality.

StickierBuns wrote:

Honestly, if you need 4 QBs on your roster you're doing it wrong. I see 3 other teams did the same thing, my guess is things aren't set yet. We've got the longest time ever between final roster cuts and the start of the regular season....more to come should be probably expected.
We better hope the starters remain healthy because I'm concerned about the depth quality.

No depth courtesy of Kwesi's drafts. Hope Nolan does better.

In decades of fandom I've never cared about QB3/4 and I'm not about to start. If you're forced to play those guys it's season over.

That said I think there are two possibilities: JJM is being shopped and they will need Max to be QB3 if they pull off a trade. It seems unlikely unless they want to eat some of JJM's cap hit as part of the deal which I believe is just shy of 10 mil which is not QB3 money.

Or, JJM is QB3 and they are waiting til teams set their practice squads to waive Max to their own squad. For whatever reason they seem to think he's a hot property that some g.m. wants to claim. Call me skeptical.

comet52 wrote:

No depth courtesy of Kwesi's drafts. Hope Nolan does better.
In decades of fandom I've never cared about QB3/4 and I'm not about to start. If you're forced to play those guys it's season over.
That said I think there are two possibilities: JJM is being shopped and they will need Max to be QB3 if they pull off a trade. It seems unlikely unless they want to eat some of JJM's cap hit as part of the deal which I believe is just shy of 10 mil which is not QB3 money.
Or, JJM is QB3 and they are waiting til teams set their practice squads to waive Max to their own squad. For whatever reason they seem to think he's a hot property that some g.m. wants to claim. Call me skeptical.

I'm ready for Week 1....its been a long late Spring and Summer constantly analyzing and debating the QB1 scenario.

comet52 wrote:

No depth courtesy of Kwesi's drafts. Hope Nolan does better.
In decades of fandom I've never cared about QB3/4 and I'm not about to start. If you're forced to play those guys it's season over.
That said I think there are two possibilities: JJM is being shopped and they will need Max to be QB3 if they pull off a trade. It seems unlikely unless they want to eat some of JJM's cap hit as part of the deal which I believe is just shy of 10 mil which is not QB3 money.
Or, JJM is QB3 and they are waiting til teams set their practice squads to waive Max to their own squad. For whatever reason they seem to think he's a hot property that some g.m. wants to claim. Call me skeptical.

Those are the 2 options. I think there's some room for us bringing someone else in which pushes Max to the practice squad. There was the rumor that Harry would come back week 2, but it also could be Jurgens coming off IR week 5 or whenever.

I honestly would not mind bringing back Nick Mullins and let him and Wentz battle it out for QB 2. Mullins could operate the offense and get the ball to Jefferson. IMO Brosmer has consistently shown he does not belong on the 53 man roster.

Magnus1018 wrote:

I honestly would not mind bringing back Nick Mullins and let him and Wentz battle it out for QB 2. Mullins could operate the offense and get the ball to Jefferson. IMO Brosmer has consistently shown he does not belong on the 53 man roster.

I don't hate that idea. And I agree that we really don't need to see any more of Max Brosmer.

MaroonBells wrote:

Only mild surprises to me are Claiborne over Scott, but the Vikings are wise to go with the upside. Scot will likely go to the PS. Bell making the 53 is a surprise. Keeping 6 WR is a mild surprise. Sounds like Michael Jurgens will go on short term IR, so they'll need a spot for him in, what is it, 4 weeks?

No way Scott was getting kept over Claiborne. Scott is safe to stash on the PS. Claiborne would likely get snapped up quickly.

There seems to be two consensus on the board right now:

1). This 53 is far from written in stone

2). It is highly likely McCarthy is going to get traded

The second on (in particular) surprises me. It might be the one point that the majority of detractors and supporters both believe on said topic.

• I am not at that point for the record