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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Tyler Forness

Predicting the 10 hardest cuts for Vikings’ 53-man roster

The Minnesota Vikings have their first practice on Wednesday afternoon and the discussion about the final roster spots will be a fascinating one.

There are a lot of players competing for only a few roster spots on the back end of the roster. Those will be some difficult decisions for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and the front office to construct the 53-man roster.

As we try to project forward, we took a look at the 10 hardest cuts for the Viking.

1. WR Jalen Reagor

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

His performance in 2022 doesn’t warrant a roster spot this season, but a fully guaranteed $2.42 million salary for 2023 will make the decision difficult to cut him.

2. C Austin Schlottmann

Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

Schlottmann broke his ankle in week 17 against the Green Bay Packers and it’s a difficult injury to come back from. With Chris Reed and Alan Ali gunning for him, Schlottmann becomes expendable.

3. DT James Lynch

AP Photo/Rick Osentoski

Going into his fourth season, Lynch could easily lose his roster spot due to the young depth on the team.

4. DE Jonathan Bullard

Peter van den Berg-USA TODAY Sports

Like Lynch, Bullard loses out to the talented young depth like Esezi Otomewo.

5. LB Troy Dye

AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn

The special teams maven doesn’t have enough potential to play every down on defense and it costs him a roster spot.

6. OLB D.J. Wonnum

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

A potential surprise on the list, Wonnum hasn’t been consistent enough on defense to be guaranteed a roster spot in 2023.

7. OLB Luiji Vilain

Adam Bettcher/ Getty Images

The only UDFA to make the roster in 2022, Vilain is up against some tough competition to make the roster in 2023.

8. CB Tay Gowan

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Gowan has talent at cornerback, but it is in a tough group with a lot of capital invested ahead of him.

9. WR Trishton Jackson

Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

After a really good camp last season, Jackson barely missed the team. He is likely going to be in the same position this season with a lot of competition.

10. K Jack Podlesny

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

With a really good training camp, Podlesny is going to make the decision very difficult for Adofo-Mensah.

The Real Forno Show

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