At the end of the preseason, the Vikings waived outside linebacker Kenny Dyson with an injury settlement. A week later, the Vikings attempted to sign Dyson to their practice squad. The league said no.
Dyson’s practice squad contract was disallowed because of a league rule that say players waived with an injury settlement can’t be re-signed by that team until the length of the injury settlement, plus three weeks.
In other words, if Dyson’s injury settlement (which has not been publicly revealed) was four weeks’ salary, that means the Vikings wouldn’t be allowed to bring him back until at least seven weeks into the season. Dyson is free to sign with another team before then, just not the Vikings.
Injury settlements can be beneficial to both the team and the player: For the team, reaching an injury settlement with the player prevents them from having to put him on injured reserve, so he can play for them later in the season once he’s healthy. For the player, accepting the settlement allows him to take that money but still potentially play later in the season.
Dyson may still play this season. He could sign with another team at any time in the next seven weeks, or he could sign with the Vikings, once he becomes eligible to do so.