With the Minnesota Vikings now going through the process of putting together their roster, there will likely be some questions as to how they go about doing that. We are going to attempt to answer those questions in this post.<\/p>\n
As we\u2019ve previously mentioned, teams have until 5:00 PM Central on Sunday, 30 August to trim their rosters to 53 players. They can do those by letting players go, making trades, and other means that we will detail.<\/p>\n
Over the next couple of days, you will hear about players being both released and waived by their teams, including the Vikings. There is a significant difference between those two in terms of what sort of freedom a player has over where he goes after his previous team lets him go.<\/p>\n
Players with more than four accrued seasons of NFL experience will be released. A player that is released becomes a free agent and is free to sign with another NFL team immediately.<\/p>\n
Any player with less than four accrued NFL seasons will be waived by their teams. That means they are subject to the league\u2019s waiver process.<\/p>\n
After teams finalize their 53-man rosters, teams will have until noon Central time on Monday, 31 August to place claims on any players that were let go and are subject to the waiver process. There is a waiver priority list, and that list is the same as the first-round draft order from the 2026 NFL Draft. To refresh your memory, that means it looks like this:<\/p>\n
Las Vegas RaidersNew York JetsArizona CardinalsTennessee TitansNew York GiantsCleveland BrownsWashington CommandersNew Orleans SaintsKansas City ChiefsCincinnati BengalsMiami DolphinsDallas CowboysAtlanta FalconsBaltimore RavensTampa Bay BuccaneersIndianapolis ColtsDetroit LionsMinnesota VikingsCarolina PanthersGreen Bay PackersPittsburgh SteelersLos Angeles ChargersPhiladelphia EaglesJacksonville JaguarsChicago BearsBuffalo BillsSan Francisco 49ersHouston TexansLos Angeles RamsDenver BroncosNew England PatriotsSeattle Seahawks<\/p>\n
As you can see, the Vikings sit at #18 on the waiver priority list. That means if they put in a waiver claim on a player, they need to hope that none of the 17 teams above them put in a claim on the same player. If even one of those teams claims the same player, they have priority over the Vikings and the Vikings won\u2019t get that player.<\/p>\n
Any team can claim as many players as they want during the waiver process. If they are awarded a player, they have to make a corresponding move to add that player to the 53-man roster.<\/p>\n
A suspended player will not count against the team\u2019s 53-man roster. Jeshaun Jones, who was recently suspended for three games for violating the league\u2019s substance policy, could stay with the team for the first three weeks of the season and not count against the 53-man roster, although he wouldn\u2019t be allowed in the facility or be able to participate in any team activities. Or, if the team were to release him and he signed somewhere else, he would not be available to his new team for the first three weeks of the season, either.<\/p>\n
Should the Vikings have any players that they feel need to spend time on injured reserve, they can place two on IR with a designation to return during the season. Those returnees would count against their allotment of players who are allowed to return during the season, but would not count against the 53-man roster for cutdown purposes.<\/p>\n
International Player Partnership Program Players<\/p>\n
Right now, the Vikings have a roster exemption for punter Brett Thorson as a part of the league\u2019s International Player Partnership Program. If they determine that he has won the punting battle over Johnny Hekker and makes the active roster, they no longer get an exemption for him. He would be a regular member of the 53-man roster. If they waive him, nobody else claims him, and they bring him back to the practice squad, they could then get an exemption for him to be a 17th member of the practice squad.<\/p>\n
Once all of the waiver claims have been processed by the league, teams are free to sign players who remain unclaimed to the practice squad. We will have a separate practice squad tracker when the time comes and go over all the practice squad rules in that post.<\/p>\n