The Vikings got a jump on Tuesday's 3 p.m. roster cutdown deadline by parting ways with 14 players, including 2023 seventh-round draft pick DeWayne McBride and recently signed ex-Gophers Mohamed Ibrahim and Chuck Filiaga. Guard Dalton Risner was also expected to be placed on injured reserve.
Ibrahim, a running back, and Filiaga, an offensive lineman, were signed last week only to help the Vikings dress enough players to get through their final preseason game at Philadelphia on Sunday.
The Vikings need to make 24 more roster moves by Tuesday afternoon; among them is expected to be moving Risner to injured reserve, according to a league source. Risner, who started 11 games at left guard last year, has missed most of camp and the preseason due to a back injury. He must miss at least four games on IR, according to NFL rules, before he's eligible to return.
Risner can't be officially placed on IR until Tuesday due to a new NFL rule that allows teams to pick up to two players as IR designated-to-return candidates on the actual cutdown day. Previously, teams needed to carry injured players on the 53-man roster before moving them to IR.
Also waived were quarterback Matt Corral, tight end Sammis Reyes, cornerback Jaylin Williams, tight end Neal Johnson, receiver Justin Hall, outside linebacker Owen Porter, offensive lineman Doug Nester, offensive lineman Matt Cindric, defensive lineman Tyler Manoa and Spencer Rolland, an offensive lineman from North Carolina and Apple Valley High School.
Each of those players has less than three years of NFL experience. The team also terminated the contract of cornerback A.J. Green III, a four-year veteran.
Reyes, a native of Chile who became the first Chilean to play in an NFL game with Washington in 2021, had a roster exemption as part of the NFL's International Player Program. He could be brought back under the same roster exemption for the regular season.
Players can be signed to the practice squad after the 53-man rosters are set.
The Vikings might be more inclined to keep quarterback Jaren Hall on the 53-man roster after Monday's news that the NFL players' union vetoed a rule change that would've allowed teams to activate emergency quarterbacks from the practice squad.
Now the league will operate under last year's rules, which forced teams to carry a third, emergency quarterback on the 53-man roster in order to get a gameday exemption for them.
Star Tribune staff writer Andrew Krammer contributed to this report.