Tag: Albert Wilson

Former Dolphins WR Albert Wilson announces retirement

Albert Wilson caught five touchdown passes and threw one more during his time with the Dolphins.

Former Miami Dolphins wide receiver Albert Wilson announced his retirement from the NFL on Friday night in a pair of posts on social media that included a thank you to the team that signed him in 2018.

“To the Miami Dolphins Organization, I want to thank you for changing my family’s life forever and giving me the opportunity to come play in my home state in front of family, friends and the youth in my community,” Wilson’s post reads, in part. “This provideded [sic] me a chance to be a leader in front of my community and a light to shine at dark times we all suffered. … I’m extremely excited for my next career, Stay at Home DAD!!!”

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Wilson, 31, began his career with the Kansas City Chiefs after making the team as an undrafted free agent in 2014. In four seasons with the team, he caught 124 passes for 1,544 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns.

The Dolphins then signed the Port St. Lucie native to a three-year contract in the 2018 offseason. In his first two seasons in Miami, Wilson recorded 742 receiving yards and five touchdown grabs along with a 52-yard touchdown pass.

A huge chunk of that production came in one dominant performance against the Chicago Bears in 2018 when he racked up 155 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Wilson opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 and returned in 2021 to record just 25 receptions for 213 yards. He then had brief stints with the Minnesota Vikings and Las Vegas Raiders in 2022 before spending all of 2023 as a free agent.

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Return of WR DJ Turner has veteran WR Albert Wilson cut by Raiders without playing a snap

DJ Turner is in, Albert Wilson is out without playing a snap for Raiders

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For Albert Wilson, what happened in Vegas didn’t stay in Vegas. That being him in a Raiders uniform.

The veteran receiver was signed to the Raiders practice squad back on October 7, prior to their game against the Chiefs. Wilson wasn’t activated for that game, but was called up to the active roster on October 11 as the team headed into its bye week.

Coming out of their bye week, first year receiver DJ Turner was activated off injured reserve and with it, Wilson’s time with the Raiders came to an end. Which means he never even got a chance to put on a Raiders uniform.

Turner had an outstanding preseason with the Raiders, earning himself a roster spot as a reserve slot receiver and return specialist.

Coming into this game, starting slot receiver and punt returner Hunter Renfrow is questionable with a hip injury. Potentially making Turner’s return a crucial one.

Even if Renfrow is able to go, having a backup option is valuable. And it might be smart for the Raiders to let Turner handle the punt return duties, just in case.

Along with the swapping out of Turner and Wilson on the active roster, the Raiders released Tyron Johnson from the practice squad. He had been signed to the practice squad on the same day Wilson was called up from the practice squad to the active roster, making it possible Wilson could sign back to the practice squad.

Raiders waive WR Tyron Johnson, add Albert Wilson to practice squad

Raiders cut WR Tyron Johnson

Today the Raiders made a swap at wide receiver. They waived Tyron Johnson and added veteran WR Albert Wilson to the practice squad.

Johnson made the Raiders roster out of camp over the likes of Demarcus Robinson and Keelan Cole. But he hasn’t been a big part of the offense through the first four games, so the team made a move in the hopes of getting some production.

For whatever reason, Johnson has seen just four snaps this season. Which makes you wonder why they kept him in the first place if they weren’t going to use him.

The obvious answer would seem to be special teams, on which Johnson is coming off a terrible game last week against the Broncos. First he ran into Keelan Cole on a punt return, causing him to muff it and lose a bunch of yards. Then later caused a nice punt return to be called back by an illegal block penalty.

You can see how Josh McDaniels might have been impressed enough with Wilson to sign him. This preseason with the Vikings, Wilson had two catches — both for touchdowns — against the Raiders.

Wilson doesn’t offer much on special teams. He hasn’t been a kick return specialist since 2017 and saw no snaps on special teams last season.

There hasn’t been a lot of balls to go around for the Raiders so far this season; at least not after Davante Adams, Darren Waller, and Mack Hollins.

Former Chiefs WR Albert Wilson to sign with Raiders

The #Raiders are adding a former #Chiefs wide receiver ahead of Week 5.

The Kansas City Chiefs reunited with one of their former wide receivers earlier this week and now their Week 5 opponents are adding one of their former receivers as well.

As first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, former Chiefs WR Albert Wilson plans to sign with the Las Vegas Raiders. Wilson kicked off his career in Kansas City, signing with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent out of Georgia State in 2014. He left the team as a free agent in 2018, signing with the Miami Dolphins, where he’d spend the next three seasons of his career. He most recently spent a brief stay with the Minnesota Vikings.

Las Vegas hosted Wilson on a tryout earlier this week.

Hopefully, the Raiders aren’t expecting any intel from Wilson seeing has it has been over four years since he was last with the Chiefs. He should provide the silver and black with some essential depth at the receiver position, which they were lacking when Hunter Renfrow was out with a concussion.

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Vikings roster move roundup

Catch up on all the Vikings roster moves

With the Vikings having to trim down their roster twice over the last 10 days, there has been a lot of movement.

Not only have they trimmed the roster, they made a massive trade to improve the backup quarterback position on Monday.

While they have already made a lot of moves, there is still quite a bit that needs to be done. Along with that, there are likely players that they will claim on waivers once the initial 53-man roster is finalized at 4 pm eastern time next Tuesday, Aug. 30th.

The Vikings Made Two Roster Moves on Monday

The Vikings now sit at 84 players on the roster

The Minnesota Vikings were in a position where they have to trim down the roster down to 80 players by 4 pm EST on Tuesday afternoon. This is identical to what the Vikings needed to do last Tuesday when they trimmed the roster from 90 down to 85.

After trading for Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Nick Mullens early Monday morning, they were going to have to make at least one roster move to make room for Mullens.

Early Monday afternoon, they did just that by moving on from two players.

Wilson was best known for catching both Vikings touchdowns against the Las Vegas Raiders in the first preseason game. After spending time with both the Chiefs and the Dolphins, he was hoping to catch on with Minnesota.

Taylor is an athletic player that general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah knew well from his time in San Francisco, but he wasn’t able to stay healthy enough to compete in a deep edge room.

The Vikings will have four more decisions to make this week before the 4 pm EST deadline.

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WATCH: Kellen Mond delivers a dart for Vikings’ first 2022 touchdown

Kellen Mond is starting to feel it.

Fans for the Minnesota Vikings have been clamoring for an improvement at the backup quarterback position.

Last year, the Vikings drafted Kellen Mond in the third round of the NFL draft. The hope was that he would be the backup quarterback and potentially the quarterback of the future.

After a rough first season where his development was hindered due to COVID-19 and it’s after effects, Mond has elevated himself to the backup quarterback position, sharing it with Sean Mannion.

On the first possession of the second half, Mond led the Vikings first touchdown drive of the 2022 season, throwing a touchdown pass to former Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins wide receiver Albert Wilson.

It was a nice play from Mond, who will look to continue building off of that success.

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Highlights and notes from Vikings final week of OTAs

The Vikings wrap up OTAs

The Minnesota Vikings closed out the final stretch of organized team activities last week with confidence and some concerns.

On one hand, the team is excited about the potential they have to turn things around immediately.

They have responded well to Kevin O’Connell as the head coach, and overall, there seems to be a much more loose and exciting vibe from the team, as opposed to how they looked towards the end of the Mike Zimmer era.

However, on the other hand, they’re being reminded of how quickly things can change on the football field. It takes more than talent to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Injuries have put countless championship teams in the grave before they even started.

Here are some observations as the Vikings wrapped up OTAs.

Vikings waive RB A.J. Rose Jr. to make room for Albert Wilson

The Vikings free up a spot for Albert Wilson

In a follow-up move to the signing of veteran wide receiver Albert Wilson, the Minnesota Vikings announced on Wednesday they had waived second-year running back A.J. Rose Jr.

It was always going to be a long-shot possibility for Rose to even make the team after the Vikings spent a fifth-round pick on Ty Chandler in the 2022 NFL draft, along with picking up undrafted rookie free agent Bryant Koback.

It’s a long way to the top with the unit spearheaded by Dalvin Cook as the No. 1 option and Alexander Mattison handling lead backup duties.

Rose never saw the field in his rookie season, and the Vikings clearly felt there was more value in adding a veteran to their receivers room as another potential offensive weapon for quarterback Kirk Cousins.

The timing of the release is a bit rough for Rose considering all of the major roster movement is pretty much done for most teams.

But injuries and roster tinkering is an ongoing thing that could open the door of opportunity once more for the former University of Kentucky standout.

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Vikings sign veteran WR Albert Wilson to one-year deal

The depth chart at receiver gets even deeper for the Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings are adding to an already stacked receivers room with the addition of veteran wideout Albert Wilson.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the team and Wilson had agreed to a one-year deal on Tuesday.

It’s an interesting addition considering the talent already available at receiver in Minnesota. Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen are the top-two options as of right now, while K.J. Osborn is a burgeoning third option that could soon creep into that secondary role.

The team also has another talented young receiver chomping at the bit for more snaps with Ihmir Smith-Marsette.

There aren’t enough passes to go around to everybody, but at the very least, Wilson does give the Vikings another veteran option to utilize as an emergency plan if someone goes down with an injury. Thielen turns 32 years old in August, and he was a bit banged up last season.

Granted, Osborn stepped up admirably as the second-best receiving option, but coach Kevin O’Connell clearly isn’t going to waste any opportunities to stockpile offensive weapons. The team also had receiver/return specialist Dede Westbrook in for a visit on Tuesday.

Wilson is coming off a career-low 213 receiving yards and zero touchdowns with the Miami Dolphins. There were a lot of mouths to feed as well in the Dolphins’ receiving room.

So it’s clear right out of the gates things won’t get any easier in Minnesota for Wilson, who hopes to be more than just a training camp body.

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