Tag: Thomas Hennigan

89 days until Vikings season opener: Every player to wear No. 89

31 players have worn the No. 89 for the Minnesota Vikings, but who are the standouts of that list?

It’s the final countdown…

Well, sort of.

The Minnesota Vikings will kick off their 2023 regular season in 89 days at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 10.

From now until then, we will take a trip down memory lane and count each day by revisiting the players that have worn that specific jersey number.

Undrafted rookie Thayer Thomas currently occupies No. 89, but his time on the Vikings roster could be limited. Ultimately, this number has changed hands quite a few times, with only a handful of players wearing it for more than just a season.

With 89 days until kickoff, here’s a look at every player to wear No. 89 with the Vikings (via Pro Football Reference):

List of former Vikings remaining as free agents

There are plenty of former Vikings remaining on the free agent market.

After being active in the free-agent market, the Minnesota Vikings have made a lot of moves to keep players on the roster. They entered the offseason with 25 free agents and have brought back 10 of them.

Now that we are in the month of June, that number has decreased significantly. Teams have filled their 90-man rosters with draft picks and undrafted free agents. The signing of players has decreased significantly.

Here are the remaining Vikings free agents still available to sign on the open market.

Vikings ranked 16th in the NFL in spending when signing undrafted free agents

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero released a report on Saturday that showed a breakdown of spending by NFL teams for UDFA signings

Every year after the draft, NFL teams can bid for undrafted free agents in a recruitment process that mirrors regular free agency. Generally, teams who assert themselves and offer more guaranteed money have a higher likelihood of signing these players.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero released a report on Saturday. The report indicated that the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) provided agents with a team-by-team spending breakdown of last year’s undrafted free agent class.

The Minnesota Vikings were able to sign nine undrafted free agents last year, spending a total of $609,705. This ranks them 16th in the league in terms of total money spent on these players. Below are the names of the nine undrafted free agents who signed with the Vikings last season.

  • S Mike Brown
  • WR Thomas Hennigan
  • RB Bryant Koback
  • OLB Zach McCloud
  • C Josh Sokol
  • DT Tyarise Stevenson
  • OLD Luiji Vilain
  • P Ryan Wright
  • K Gabe Brkic

Keep in mind that this is just signing bonus money given to undrafted free agents. Teams will offer upwards of $250k to players to get them to sign with their team. If the player gets cut, which happens often, the signing bonus gets accelerated to next year’s salary cap.

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Vikings waive WR Thomas Hennigan on Tuesday

The #Vikings waived wide receiver Thomas Hennigan on Tuesday, bringing an end to his eight-month stint in Minnesota

The Minnesota Vikings waived receiver Thomas Hennigan on Tuesday after hosting him on their roster for eight uneventful months. Hennigan signed with Minnesota just before the 2022 season started on August, 16th of last year, and did not have a chance to make an appearance for the Vikings after being placed on injured reserve shortly after.

News broke that he had been waived in a tweet that was posted to the team’s social media account after they announced that they had signed defensive lineman Jonathan Bullard.

Though unsurprising, this move has a chance to affect Minnesota’s depth at the receiver position, which is particularly thin after their release of veteran Adam Thielen last week. Whether Hennigan might be a candidate to re-sign before OTAs or training camp later in the offseason is, to this point, unknown, though he will likely look to secure work for himself with another team in the coming months.

All in all, the Vikings’ decision to waive Hennigan should prove to be inconsequential so long as he doesn’t put together a breakout season elsewhere in 2023.

Two Vikings Cuts Reverted to Injured Reserve

Two former Vikings reverted to injured reserve

There are multiple ways for a team to remove a player from the active roster. The usual ways to do so are to release or trade them to another team.

Before the season begins, there is a multitude of ways to do so. There is the physically unable to perform list, injured reserve and the non-football injury list.

Waiving a player with less than four years of vested experience can also revert to injured reserve. Two of the Vikings cuts yesterday did just that after they weren’t claimed via waivers.

Neither Hennigan nor Stevenson were projected to make the final roster, so the Vikings holding onto their rights until next season helps their development and the hope that they will take a step forward.

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The Vikings make first round of roster cuts

The Vikings trim the roster down to 85

Once the schedule changes were made to increase regular season games to 17, the preseason was also altered dropping from four to three games.

In turn, the way roster cuts were also modified. Instead of having two cutdown days, the league moved to three. Rosters go from 90 to 85 on the first one, 80 on the second one and the final 53 on the third and final cut.

On Tuesday, the Vikings made their first round of cuts, releasing five players with three separate designations.

None of these releases is a surprise, albeit Vargas going this early is interesting. Being the only backup fullback, does this mean that CJ Ham won’t factor into long-term plans as much as we might have thought?

11 personnel is going to be heavy on the menu this season and likely the next two weeks as well.

Nine undrafted rookie free agents agree to terms with Vikings

Vikings load up on undrafted rookies.

Another NFL draft is in the books, but the work continues for the Minnesota Vikings with the team announcing they have agreed to terms with nine undrafted rookie free agents.

The names on that list are Virginia Tech receiver Tre Turner, Wake Forest linebacker Luiji Vilain, Tulane punter Ryan Wright, Miami (OH) safety Mike Brown, Appalachian State receiver Thomas Hennigan, Toledo running back Bryant Koback, Miami linebacker Zach McCloud, Sacred Heart center Josh Sokol and Tulsa defensive tackle Tyarise Stevenson.

The Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson reported the Vikings sifted through a “variety of options” at punter. So the team appears determined to bring in direct training camp competition for current punter Jordan Berry.

They ultimately settled on Wright, who averaged a career-high 47.5 yards per punt after 51 punts in 2021.

Vilain is also a name of interest on this list considering his disruptive capabilities on the defensive front.

He led the Demon Deacons with eight sacks last season, while also compiling nine tackles for a loss, one fumble recovery and two forced fumbles.

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