The Vikings signed Michael Pierce this offseason. who could have presumably filled in at the team’s open nose tackle spot.
He ended up opting out of the 2020 NFL season, though. He said that he has really bad asthma among other respiratory issues, so it’s a high-risk opt-out.
Pierce recently discussed what he’s been doing amid his opt-out season with ESPN’s Courtney Cronin.
“We’re kind of retooling my body,” Pierce said, via ESPN. “Lots of sprint work, alactic conditioning with all those cardio machines that people use nowadays. I hate it, but it works.”
Pierce also told Cronin that the Vikings were supportive of his decision:
“For me, it wasn’t anything they didn’t know already (because of the physical/medical check he went through before signing in agency), so it was a lot easier for me to bring this up to them,” Pierce said, via ESPN. “They were super supportive and they understood where I was coming from.”