After a long, quiet summer, the Minnesota Vikings are almost back in action, with training camp starting on August 1. While all eyes will likely be on the quarterback battle between J.J. McCarthy and Kyler Murray, Minnesota’s roster is still filled with a lot of players who have something to prove entering next season.
With a new GM in Nolan Teasley, every player comes into training camp with a clean slate. There are four players who most need to make a great second first impression, in some cases just to stay on the roster.
Tai Felton
Minnesota’s third-round pick in the 2025 draft had a less-than-ideal rookie season. He largely served as a special teamer and finished with only three catches for 25 yards. Now, after the Vikings added Jauan Jennings to an already talented room, Felton saw whatever chances he had at filling the WR3 role diminished.
To make things even worse for him, fellow rookie receiver Myles Price served as the team’s kick-and-punt returner last season. After the Vikings added Demond Claiborne in the draft, Felton could find himself even further back in both roles.
The Vikings also brought in Dillon Bell as an undrafted free agent, and he wowed in rookie minicamp with his ability to run smooth, crisp routes and catch every pass thrown his way. Bell also worked with the first-team offense in minicamp, and Felton did not.
Last season, the Vikings carried only five receivers. With Jefferson, Addison, and Jennings locks to make the roster, Felton will need to impress as both a receiver and a special-teamer to make the cut.
Ivan Pace Jr.
Ivan Pace looked like another player in the long line of Vikings undrafted free-agent finds. He stepped into the starting role in his rookie year and arguably looked like their best linebacker. Now, three years later, there are questions about whether he will even make the roster.
Last season, the Vikings benched Pace in favor of fellow Cincinnati Bearcat Eric Wilson. Pace went multiple games without recording a single snap. While the Vikings brought him back on a right-of-first-refusal tender, they also drafted another University of Cincinnati linebacker in the second round with Jake Golday.
With Cashman, Wilson, and Golday all but guaranteed roster spots, Pace will need to impress on special teams and show discipline that he lacked on defense last year to avoid being on the outside looking in.
Walter Rouse
Another former Kwesi Adofo-Mensah pick, Rouse also looks like he could be in danger of missing the cut. Rouse managed only 88 snaps last season in a year where Minnesota’s offensive line faced tons of injuries, and he was unable to beat out the largely underwhelming Justin Skule for the swing tackle position.
His job only gets harder as the Vikings have brought in Ryan Van Demark to fill in the role Skule left while also adding Caleb Tiernan, who has the potential to play both tackle and guard, something Rouse can’t do.
Given the current logjam at tackle, Rouse will likely take his time in preseason and use it as audition tape for another team looking for a backup tackle.
Bo Richter
It doesn’t feel likely that Richter is going to be cut this offseason, and in fact he has a chance to potentially cement himself in a large role on this defense.
After trading Jonathan Greenard, the Vikings haven’t done anything to address the void at edge rusher. While Andrew Van Ginkel and Dallas Turner will be the Week 1 starters barring any injury, Richter can cement a spot as their primary backup.
Though there has been some talk about Golday playing a role similar to Van Ginkel’s, he was underwhelming as a pass rusher in college and will likely need time to develop a range of pass-rush moves to be successful in the NFL.
While this development takes place, Richter could see the field for a large number of snaps. Though the Vikings could still add another pass rusher to the room in the form of a veteran, Richter has the inside track as the primary backup at edge rusher.
