Vikings sign Luke Stocker to 53-man roster

Pretty much saw this coming

On Thursday, the Minnesota Vikings made a move that many expected them to make, formally signing tight end Luke Stocker from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.

Stocker was added to the Vikings’ practice squad back on 13 October, following the injury to blocking tight end Ben Ellefson. He has been elevated to the practice squad in each of the past two games, a victory over Carolina and the Sunday night loss to Dallas. That meant that, in order for the Vikings to have him available again, they would have to sign him to the main roster, which they’ve done.

There hasn’t been any real word yet on how much longer the Vikings expect Ellefson to be out and/or how that would affect Stocker’s status on the active roster. Ellefson participated in the first practice leading up to the Cowboys game but then aggravated the lower leg injury that he had been suffering from, causing the Vikings to place him on injured reserve. The Vikings also have Tyler Conklin and Chris Herndon at the tight end spot, so unless the Vikings are going to change course and carry four tight ends, they might have a decision to make in a few weeks if Ellefson is ready to go.

We’ll be keeping an eye out to see if the Vikings make any more roster moves between now and the time that they take the field against the Ravens on Sunday afternoon.