Tag: Chris Reed

Report: Vikings have re-signed C Austin Schlottmann

After breaking his ankle in week 17 against the Green Bay Packers, center Austin Schlottmann is re-signing with the Minnesota Vikings.

The Minnesota Vikings are continuing to add to the depth of their roster. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Vikings have re-signed backup center Austin Schlottmann. Details of the contract were not disclosed, but it’s likely a one-year deal at the league minimum or close to it, just like last year.

Schlottmann ended up starting in four games after center Garrett Bradbury ended up going down with a back injury. He played admirably, but didn’t show anything more than a backup center.

His PFF grades reflected that. Schlottmann had an overall grade of 48.7 with blocking grades of 46.1 (pass) and 55.3 (run). In his fourth start, Schlottmann broke his ankle in week 17 against the Green Bay Packers and was placed on injured reserve.

With the Vikings guaranteeing money with Chris Reed earlier this week, don’t be surprised if this deal doesn’t have any full guarantees and Schlottmann will have to fight for a roster spot.

Details from Chris Reed’s re-worked contract are revealed

The Minnesota Vikings have been busy at work getting under the salary cap and the detals from Chris Reed’s pay cut have been revealed

The Minnesota Vikings have been working dilligently on getting under the salary cap and the details from Chris Reed’s reported paycut are in.

Per our friends at Over The Cap, Reed accepted a paycut of $1 million in exchange for the Vikings guaranteeing $600k of his base salary.

Reed will have a base salary of $1.4 million. He has a pro-rated bonus of $250k from his signing bonus and $100k in workout bonuses for a total cap hit of $1.75 million.

With the unknowns of the structure of both Jordan Hicks and Marcus Davenport, the Vikings are currently $9,939,549 over the salary cap. They need to get under that threshold before 3:00 pm on Wednesday, March 15th.

Vikings restructure contract of Chris Reed, save close to $1 million

The Vikings continue to work on their salary cap issues with the contract of Chris Reed

Despite it being Saturday, the Minnesota Vikings haven’t stopped trying to get under the salary cap. According to ESPN’s Field Yates, the Vikings have renegotiated the contract of guard Chris Reed, saving around $1 million on the cap.

Reed was set to enter the 2023 season with a cap hit of $2.75 million and a base salary of $2.45 million. Saving around $1 million signals that his base salary will have dropped to around $1.5 million. That number will soon be confirmed.

That will drop the Vikings to only $6.5 million over the cap with decisions to make on players such as Za’Darius Smith, Dalvin Cook and Harrison Smith among others.

10 Vikings who could be salary cap casualties

The Vikings will have some hard decisions to make with the salary cap

With the Minnesota Vikings season over, it’s time to face realities about where this team is going.

The Vikings decided to go somewhat all-in on making the 2022 team competitive for a playoff spot and they won the NFC North division title. Unfortunately, they now sit in a less-than-ideal spot with the salary cap. They are projected to be $24,431,507 over the salary cap for next season.

In order to get under the salary cap and make some moves in free agency, the Vikings will have to get creative. Here are 10 players they can cut to make their salary cap situation better.

Vikings vs. Bears: 5 backups who stood out in Sunday’s win

The second team got some extended play on Sunday. Here are five of them who stood out.

Prior to Sunday’s game versus the Chicago Bears, there was an expectation that the Minnesota Vikings would pull their starters during the game and the Vikings did just that after halftime. Kirk Cousins hit wide receiver K.J. Osborn for a 66-yard connection on the teams’ opening drive and then followed that up with a touchdown to wide receiver Adam Thielen.

After going up 16-6 at the end of the first half, head coach Kevin O’Connell pulled his starters as the second half commenced. The decision allowed O’Connell to ensure his starters would stay healthy with the playoffs right around the corner, but it also allowed for the Vikings coaching staff to get a look at the backups.

Here’s a look at some of the backups who played today and how they fared.

Vikings Chris Reed to start, plan to rotate out starters vs. Bears

After a rough outing on Sunday, Reed gets another chance

When the Minnesota Vikings take the field on Sunday versus the Chicago Bears, they’ll be starting their third center this season under Kirk Cousins. Head Coach Kevin O’Connell announced on Friday that third-string center Chris Reed will get the start this Sunday versus the Bears while the Vikings wait for Garrett Bradbury to return from a back injury.

Reed struggled this past week filling in for backup center Austin Schlottmann against Green Bay. Sunday will be a good opportunity for Reed to get additional live reps and it will help the Vikings coaching staff identify if they can trust Reed heading into the playoffs or if they need to pivot to newly signed center Greg Mancz until Bradbury is ready to go.

In addition to the announcement of Reed starting on Sunday, it sounds as if O’Connell is prepared to have all of the normal starters start but then rotate out.

We saw O’Connell play it safe with his starters throughout the preseason. So it comes as no surprise that he plans on making the smart decision Sunday to pull the starters at some point in the game. There is no need to risk any injury to your starters with the playoffs already secured.

Could the Vikings start newly acquired center Greg Mancz on Sunday?

Could the newly acquired center start for the Vikings in the playoffs?

Center has become somewhat of a problematic position for the Minnesota Vikings over the past few weeks. Not having center Garrett Bradbury has made things problematic for quarterback Kirk Cousins.

After the injury suffered to center Austin Schlottmann, the Vikings signed veteran Greg Mancz to fortify their depth at the position. What raised some eyebrows is what happened during media availability of Friday’s practice. Mancz was snapping to Cousins and Chris Reed snapping to backup quarterback Nick Mullens.

As ESPN’s Kevin Seifer opined about, I also don’t know that means, but it is something that could end up impacting the Vikings playoff run.

Vikings vs. Bears: 5 players to watch in Week 18

Here are five players to watch for in this week 18 matchup

The Minnesota Vikings are headed to Soldier Field this Sunday to take on the Chicago Bears in the regular season finale. The Vikings have already secured a playoff berth by clinching the NFC North, but with a win over the Bears on Sunday combined with a loss by the San Francisco 49ers, the Vikings could move into the second seed in the NFC.

Head coach Kevin O’Connell has yet to say whether or not he’ll treat this game any differently with the playoffs already secured, but the expectation is that starters will play in some capacity. Let’s take a look at some players to watch in this weekend’s matchup.

Zulgad: Brian O’Neill’s absence could sink Vikings’ hope of making a playoff run

From @jzulgad: With the loss of Brian O’Neill, the Vikings could see flashbacks of 2017 when they lost Nick Easton

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell is likely regretting his first-quarter decision to go for it on fourth-and-2 on Sunday at Lambeau Field — or at least his play call.

Quarterback Kirk Cousins dropped back with the ball on the Green Bay 37 and rifled it toward tight end T.J. Hockenson. The pass was tipped by cornerback Rasul Douglas and picked off by safety Darnell Savage. Savage raced 75 yards for a touchdown to give the Packers a 14-3 lead and a preview of what was to come in a 24-point loss.

Amazingly, it wasn’t the worst result of the play. Vikings right tackle Brian O’Neill suffered what coach Kevin O’Connell called a “significant” injury to his calf as he pursued Savage. On Tuesday, O’Neill was placed on injured reserve. His season is likely finished and his absence could play a large role in ending the Vikings’ season early in the playoffs.

Minnesota is 12-4 entering its regular-season finale Sunday in Chicago and already has the NFC North clinched. An embarrassing 41-17 loss to the Packers on Sunday means the Vikings are likely to have the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoff field and face the New York Giants on wild card weekend at U.S. Bank Stadium.

What the Vikings won’t have for that game is one of the NFL’s best right tackles. O’Neill was elected to the Pro Bowl in 2021 after signing a five-year, $92.5 million contract just before the regular season. His contract makes him the second-highest paid right tackle in the league to New Orleans’ Ryan Ramczyk. Ramczyk averages $19.2 million per season; O’Neill is at $18.5 million.

O’Connell plans to replace O’Neill with backup tackle Oli Udoh, who struggled playing out of position at right guard last season. A second-round pick in 2018 by the Vikings, O’Neill is a team captain and has become the leader of an offensive line that finally had some stability this season. Pro Football Focus has him graded as the NFL’s fourth-best right tackle.

But wait, it gets worse.

The Vikings also have potential issues at center after placing Austin Schlottmann on injured reserve Tuesday. He suffered a left fibula fracture in the first quarter shortly before O’Neill was lost. Schlottmann was playing because Garrett Bradbury has missed the past four games due to a lower back injury. O’Connell would only say that “the hope is that we’ll have him back,” but he declined to put a timetable on Bradbury’s return.

This could put veteran guard Chris Reed, who had never played a regular-season game at center until Sunday, in a starting role, but the Vikings also have signed eight-year veteran Greg Mancz to the active roster. Mancz has played in 64 games during his career, including one with Buffalo this season.

The Vikings potential starting offensive line in the playoffs could be Reed or Mancz at center, often-struggling rookie Ed Ingram at right guard and Udoh at right tackle. If that’s the case, good luck to Cousins, who likely will be facing the New York Giants and blitz-happy defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale in the first round.

If this sounds familiar it should. It was in the penultimate regular-season game of the 2017 season in Green Bay, when the Vikings lost left guard Nick Easton because of a fractured right ankle. The offensive line was shuffled with Mike Remmers moving from right tackle to left guard and backup Rashod Hill taking over at right tackle. Remmers, like Reed in this situation, was playing out of position and it showed.

That Vikings team, the last to win the NFC North before this one, finished 13-3 and beat the Saints on the Minneapolis Miracle play before getting destroyed 38-7 in the NFC title game in Philadelphia.

Easton’s loss was a blow, but he wasn’t nearly as important as O’Neill is to this unit. This has been mostly a magical season for the Vikings and their first-year coach, but you have to wonder how long it will continue with O’Neill watching from the sideline.

Vikings vs. Packers: The good, bad and ugly of Week 17’s PFF grades

The grades have some intrigue this week

There is no sugarcoating the Minnesota Vikings’ poor performance in a 41-17 loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field other than extremely disappointing.

The game started off well with Josh Metellus getting a blocked punt just one week after blocking one against the New York Giants. After not being able to do anything after not being able to get in the end zone after getting the ball at the two-yard line.

The PFF grades are out and they paint quite the picture for what the game really was for the Vikings.