Like the heat and humidity, the competition is rising at Minnesota Vikings training camp. Players throughout the 90-man roster will be battling for the next few weeks to secure a spot. While each comes from a separate background, they all have the common goal of making the 53-man roster at the end of camp and becoming impact players.
For some, like first-round pick Donovan Jackson, that’s a reasonable goal. Even Day 2 picks and free-agent signings feel some sense of security when they get to camp. But once you get to Day 3 picks or an undrafted free agent? Those goals seem far away.
It takes a lot of determination and willpower to make the back end of an NFL roster during training camp. It’s why Adam Thielen is so revered as an undrafted free agent who went on to be one of the best receivers in Vikings history. Sometimes it helps to see someone who has done it in the past, and that’s why Josh Metellus is so important to the Vikings.
This isn’t just coachspeak. The Vikings proved worth with a three-year, $36 million contract extension that can reach up to $42 million through incentives, which was agreed to this past weekend. But while Metellus has a vital role on the field, it may be just as important off it.
Metellus was Minnesota’s sixth-round pick out of Michigan in 2020. While former general manager Rick Spielman threw darts with a record 15 draft picks, Metellus didn’t look like a hit – at least not immediately. Metellus didn’t make the final cuts with the Vikings out of his first training camp, but he stuck around as a member of the practice squad, and they activated him in September 2020.
Given his first chance to compete at the NFL level, Metellus carved out a niche on special teams with a 74.5 Pro Football Focus grade on 257 snaps in his rookie season. The grade dropped to 49.3 in his second season with the team, but he remained on the roster through Mike Zimmer’s final year and into the Kevin O’Connell era.
Metellus made his first start in a Week 3 game against the Detroit Lions and recorded his first interception in the final seconds to secure the 28-24 victory. While he posted a 63.2 grade on special teams, he also logged an 85.1 overall grade in a career-high 261 defensive snaps, perhaps setting the stage for his breakout under defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
Players don’t experience success instantly in the NFL. Sometimes, they just need to find the right coach or the infrastructure to unlock their full potential. Vikings fans saw this with Sam Darnold last year, but Metellus was different in that he never really had a full defensive role until Flores arrived.
Some fans were surprised when Metellus signed a two-year extension at the beginning of the 2023 season, but Flores had a plan in mind. Metellus played a career-high 1,063 defensive snaps plus another 193 snaps on special teams in a breakout season. He backed it up with another 1,030 defensive snaps last season, with 219 more coming on special teams.
His stats alone are impressive. He has 219 total tackles, nine tackles for loss, three interceptions, 10 pass defenses, five forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and 2.5 sacks since Flores arrived in Minnesota. But like most players on the Vikings, Metellus, the person, was someone important to keep around.
“[He’s] such a vital part of our success on and off the field,” O’Connell told reporters on Saturday. “It’s hard to imagine them making any better as a player and person than Josh Metellus. What he means to me, personally, our friendship, our bond, we formed. Absolutely thrilled for Josh, his family, and Vikings fans that they get to see him for years to come in a role that’s really become special to him, and how he’s attacked it and helped us become what we are defensively.”
O’Connell’s words shouldn’t be lost here. He helped transform the culture from the end of the Zimmer era to where it is now. Countless free agents, including Will Fries, Ryan Kelly, Jonathan Allen, and Javon Hargrave, wanted to come to Minnesota and be a part of what’s happening at TCO Performance Center last spring, but that may not happen if the players don’t buy in.
It’s why having Metellus on the field now instead of engaging in a lengthy hold in was so critical. He’s been through the grind of training camp. He knows what it’s like to battle for your spot each of the past few years. He’s become a team captain and an important member of Minnesota’s defense and special teams units.
When Minnesota released Thielen a few years ago, they needed that guy in the locker room to set an example. While there are plenty of leaders heading into a year with Super Bowl aspirations, Metellus’s role stands alone and could help the Vikings get where they want to go throughout his new contract.
