Minnesota Vikings sign QB Kyle Sloter, make several other moves

Welcome (back) to the Sloter-house.

With Sean Mannion having tested positive for COVID just before last week’s game Kellen Mond apparently not ready because. . .hell, I don’t know, your guess is as good as mine. . .the Minnesota Vikings are bringing back a familiar face to provide some quarterback depth.

The Vikings have signed quarterback Kyle Sloter to the 53-man roster, per the team’s Twitter account.

Sloter joined the Vikings after Training camp in 2017 when he was let go by the Denver Broncos after going undrafted out of Northern Colorado. He spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons with the Vikings, gaining a bit of a cult following because of his preseason performances. He was waived following Training Camp in 2019, and since then has had stops with the Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, and most recently the Las Vegas Raiders.

Sloter has yet to appear in an NFL game, but if Mannion is unable to come back by Sunday night it appears that he will be serving as the primary backup to Kirk Cousins, who has been dealing with a cracked rib.

The Vikings made a couple of other moves as well, signing offensive tackle Rick Leonard to the practice squad and releasing wide receiver Damion Ratley and tight end Brandon Dillon from the practice squad.

Leonard has yet to appear in an NFL game despite being a fourth-round pick of the New Orleans Saints in the 2018 NFL Draft out of Florida State. He was waived by the Saints after Training Camp that year and brought back to their practice squad before being released again. Since then, he has spent time on the practice squads of the Los Angeles Rams, Arizona Cardinals (twice), Houston Texans, Washington Football Team, and most recently the Atlanta Falcons. Atlanta waived him from their practice squad three weeks ago.

The Vikings brought Ratley in a couple of weeks ago when they were having issues with the wide receiver depth chart. Dillon is a bit of a surprise because he’s been with the team since 2018, appearing in five games with the team over the course of three seasons. He only caught one pass for six yards during that time, but he had been around for a few years so I’m surprised the Vikings let him go.

If the Vikings make any more transactions, we’ll let you know about them straight away.