Khyiris Tonga to sign with Arizona Cardinals

The big man departs for the desert

The revolving door keeps spinning at the Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center with players coming and going, and now we have word of another departure for the Minnesota Vikings.

Defensive lineman Khyiris Tonga is leaving the Vikings for the Arizona Cardinals, signing a one-year deal. The financial terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed. It is important to note in this instance that Tonga was a non-tendered Restricted Free Agent and will not count for or against the Vikings in calculations for 2025 Compensatory Draft Picks.

Tonga was a seventh-round pick of the Chicago Bears in the 2021 NFL Draft out of BYU. He came to the Vikings after they poached him from the Atlanta Falcons’ practice squad early in the 2022 season and performed well enough in the second half of that season to earn a spot on the team in 2023. Over the past two seasons, he appeared in 25 games for the Vikings with four starts.

Honestly, I had pretty high expectations for Tonga in 2023 given the way he finished the 2022 season and the fact that he seemed to be a player that could play a significant role as a run-stuffer for the Vikings. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out the way I thought they were going to, and now the big man is moving on to the desert and his fourth NFL team.

There are still plenty of things happening on the free agency front for the Vikings, and we’ll get the news out there as quickly as we’re able. You can keep track of everything that’s happening on our Free Agency Tracker.