DAILY CLIPS

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2018 LOCAL NEWS: Monday, September 3, 2018

Star Tribune

Aiming high with young, developing players is part of Vikings' plan By Ben Goessling http://www.startribune.com/aiming-high-with-young-developing-players-is-part-of-vikings-plan/492303521/

Fred Zamberletti, Vikings' first and beloved ex-athletic trainer, dies at age 86 By Mark Craig http://www.startribune.com/fred-zamberletti-vikings-first-and-beloved-athletic-trainer-dies-at-age- 86/492285981/

Vikings change punters, sign journeyman By Andrew Krammer http://www.startribune.com/vikings-change-punters-sign-ex-steeler-matt-wile/492301331/

Vikings players had utmost trust in Fred Zamberletti By Sid Hartman http://www.startribune.com/vikings-players-had-utmost-trust-in-zamberletti/492305301/

Zamberletti was the sports guy with an insight that could be trusted By Patrick Reusse http://www.startribune.com/zamberletti-was-the-sports-guy-with-an-insight-that-could-be- trusted/492295631/

Pioneer Press

Vikings replace with untested Matt Wile, add Chad Beebe to By Chris Tomasson https://www.twincities.com/2018/09/02/vikings-replace-ryan-quigley-at-punter-with-matt-wile-sign-9-to- practice-squad/

Longtime Vikings trainer Fred Zamberletti dies at 86 By Dane Mizutani https://www.twincities.com/2018/09/02/legendary-vikings-trainer-fred-zamberletti-dies-at-86/

Vikings.com

5 Things to Know About New Vikings P Matt Wile By Craig Peters https://www.vikings.com/news/5-things-to-know-about-new-vikings-p-matt-wile

VIKING UPDATE

Former Vikings find good and bad in weekend of releases By Tim Yotter https://247sports.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings/Article/Former-Vikings-find-good-and-bad-in-weekend-of- releases-121351001/

Vikings lose a legend with death of Fred Zamberletti By Tim Yotter https://247sports.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings/Article/Vikings-lose-a-legend-with-death-of-Fred-Zamberletti- 121345021/

Sunday slant: Robison’s release shows brutality of business By Tim Yotter https://247sports.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings/Article/Brian-Robisons-release-underscores-brutality-of- business-121297958/

1500 ESPN

Zulgad: Fred Zamberletti was a throwback to before NFL went corporate By Judd Zulgad http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/09/zulgad-zamberletti-throwback-football-corporate/

Vikings add punter, release Quigley and announce practice squad By Matthew Coller http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2018/09/report-vikings-claim-punter-off-waivers/

NATIONAL NEWS: Monday, September 3, 2018

ESPN

2018 starters, 53-man roster, schedule prediction By Courtney Cronin http://www.espn.com/blog/minnesota-vikings/post/_/id/26898/minnesota-vikings-53-man-roster-projection- final-cuts-2018

PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 9/3/18

Aiming high with young, developing players is part of Vikings' plan

By Ben Goessling

While the Vikings’ current dreams — after signing for $84 million — might echo the ones they harbored nine years ago after signing Brett Favre, there’s at least one big difference between the 2018 season and the all-in bids of 2009 and 2010:

The age of the players on their roster.

The 2009 Vikings used 10 players in their 30s and one in his 40s (Favre, who turned 40 on Oct. 10 of that season). In 2010, when they brought Favre back for one more shot after losing the NFC Championship Game to the , they used 15 players in their 30s along with 41-year-old Favre.

The roster moves the Vikings made Saturday, when they released 35-year-old Brian Robison and shifted Terence Newman from their secondary to their coaching staff days before he turned 40, served as a refresher for a roster the Vikings have typically tried to keep from aging too much.

The Vikings’ elder statesman as they begin 2018: , who celebrates his 31st birthday as the team opens the regular season on Sunday against San Francisco. Only four players on the team’s current roster — Sendejo, Marcus Sherels, Everson Griffen and Kirk Cousins — are in their 30s. Riley Reiff and Linval Joseph will turn 30 before the end of the season.

A year ago, the Vikings used nine players in their 30s during a regular-season game. That number was eight in 2016, six in 2015 and five in 2014.

The oldest player on the roster in each of those seasons was 32 in 2014 (Joe Berger) and 37, 38 and 39, respectively, from 2015 to ’17 (Newman, of course).

On the other end of the spectrum, 28 players on the current Vikings 53-man roster are 25 or younger.

That’s probably no accident, given the number of players the team has signed to long-term deals: With nine players (Cousins, Griffen, Reiff, Joseph, , , , Harrison Smith and Xavier Rhodes) signed to extensions worth at least $10 million a season, the Vikings have to supplement their roster with players who are cheap, effective and, quite often, young.

“Eventually, these guys are going to get old, and we’ve got to continue to draft,” General Manager said after the team signed Diggs to a five-year, $72 million deal in July. “These coaches do an unbelievable job of developing this talent, and we’ve got some guys coming up through the ranks.”

The Vikings’ next pivot back toward youth could be a more difficult one, given how many of their core players turn 30 in the next two years. Smith turns 30 in February, offensive lineman Mike Remmers will be 30 in May, and tight end Kyle Rudolph turns 30 in November 2019. Before the 2020 regular-season opener, Rhodes and will be 30, and after that season, the Vikings will consider a free-agent class that is scheduled to include Cousins, Thielen, and .

It’s why they will continue to replenish the roster with young players they can develop, and why they will likely stick to the pay-as-you-go philosophy they have employed to keep themselves out of salary-cap purgatory, avoiding back-loaded deals that often present financial headaches just as a player might be exiting his prime.

As much as they have built a foundation for themselves with long-term contracts, the Vikings likely know they will have difficult decisions to face in future years, and more moves like the ones they made Saturday, jettisoning a popular player in Robison because of their faith in the young defensive ends they had coming up behind him.

It’s part of the job, though, when the Vikings are as committed as they seem to be to maintaining an open window to win. In the NFL, that quite often translates to youth.

Griffen, now among the Vikings’ oldest players, knows.

“I’m trying to get the young guys better,” he said last month. “The faster you get the young guys better, the better team you’re going to have, because it’s all about the youth, to be honest.” PUBLICATION: Pioneer Press DATE: 9/3/18

Fred Zamberletti, Vikings' first and beloved ex-athletic trainer, dies at age 86

By Mark Craig

Fred Zamberletti, the Vikings’ first athletic trainer and lifelong storyteller of all things Purple, died Sunday morning. He was 86.

“Fred Zamberletti is the heart and soul of the Minnesota Vikings,” former Vikings said. “From Day 1, he’s been there taking care of everybody. A walking encyclopedia of Minnesota Vikings football. Just a good man who’ll be missed because there won’t be another Freddie. They should have a statue of him over at that new place.”

Born in Melcher, Iowa, on May 28, 1932, Zamberletti was the team’s head athletic trainer from its inception in 1961 until 1998, coordinator of medical services from 1999 to 2001 and senior consultant and team historian the rest of his life.

Zamberletti had been struggling with health issues in recent years. His family posted on his CaringBridge site last week that Zamberletti had been admitted to Methodist Hospital briefly because of back pain in mid-July.

A month later, he was readmitted when a magnetic resonance imaging exam detected an infection called osteomyelitis in the spinal bone and disc. He was being treated with strong antibiotics.

Friday, Juli Donovan, the youngest of Zamberletti’s four children behind Lisa, Lori and Tom, updated Zamberletti’s status, writing: “Our long-fought battle of Fred’s infection has been too trying for his body. We’ve now begun the journey to keep him comfortable and raise him up with love. … We know that he loved like no other and touched many people.”

Sunday morning, Juli wrote: “Today is a joyous and sad day. Fred passed away peacefully this morning joining his most beloved Lord Jesus Christ and the many loved ones that have passed before him.”

As news of Zamberletti’s condition spread last week, an entire organization, past and present, mourned. As Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse wrote Saturday morning, many well-wishers either stopped by to visit, as a teary-eyed did, or called, as did.

With eyes open and a rosary wrapped in his right hand, Zamberletti, his friends say, appeared to know that those close to him were there to say goodbye one final time.

“We lost a good one,” Vikings Hall of Fame guard Randall McDaniel said. “So many memories. One year, he took over conditioning to get us all in shape. I got to where I was so mad at him. Yelling at him. Then an hour later, we’re in the locker room playing cribbage and bocce ball like it’s no big deal. You knew deep down he always had your best interests at heart.”

Zamberletti was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Infantry. After graduating from the University of Iowa, he served as chief physical therapist at Hibbing General Hospital in 1959 and head athletic trainer at the University of Toledo in 1960. Grant joined the Vikings six years after Zamberletti and would often refer to his old friend as the “Cornerstone of the Vikings.”

“Zamby” attended every Vikings game — preseason, regular season, postseason and all-star — from Day 1 through Dec. 24, 2011. The streak ended at 1,049 games.

“I missed three out of four kids being born,” Zamberletti told the Star Tribune in 2009. “We didn’t have anybody else in those days. If you were sick, didn’t feel good, funerals or anything else, you still went to work, and you didn’t miss.”

Zamberletti, who never missed a day of work, was part of the ironman culture the team developed while going to four of the first 11 Super Bowls.

Even to this date, three of the NFL’s top six streaks for consecutive starts belong to Vikings players who played in each of those four Super Bowls. Jim Marshall is second at 270, 17 behind Brett Favre. is third at 240, while is tied for sixth at 215.

“Freddie was a team man, but also a loyal player man,” said Vikings Hall of Fame defensive end , who missed only one of 210 games in 15 seasons with the Vikings. “He was always optimistic. You’d try to get a day off, and Fred’s favorite quote was, ‘Hey, just go out there and see what you can do. Here’s a Band-Aid. Here’s an aspirin.’ That was always a lift because once you got out there and started to move around, you realized you didn’t need the day off.

“We played all those games mostly in part because of Fred. Just the encouragement and positiveness and enthusiasm. And he wouldn’t have asked you something he didn’t think you were capable of doing. So, there was a great deal of trust there with Fred.”

Foreman said Zamberletti stayed up all night one time making a contraption that enabled him to play with a separated sternum. It was a different era, and players rarely missed games.

“Fred put this wrap around my rib cage,” Foreman said. “It helped my sternum, but I told Freddie, ‘I can’t breathe.’ He said: ‘Don’t worry about breathing. Just run faster and get to the sideline so we can loosen it.’ Fred found ways to protect us on the field.”

Zamberletti, a member of the Minnesota Athletic Trainers Hall of Fame, was named Professional Athletic Trainer of the Year in 1986. Ten years later, the Vikings won NFL Athletic Training Staff of the Year.

“Fred Zamberletti was the epitome of a Minnesota Vikings icon,” Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman said in statements released by the team. “He was more to players than just an athletic trainer; he was a friend, a mentor and a father figure who earned respect and admiration from everyone he encountered. If there was a category in the [Pro Football] Hall of Fame for athletic trainers, Fred would be at the top of the list for inductees.”

Meanwhile, owners Zygi and Mark Wilf said: “The Minnesota Vikings family is devastated by the loss of our dear friend Fred Zamberletti. Fred was a staple of the franchise since its founding.”

On Dec. 20, 1998, the Vikings did something rare in sports: They put a guy who had never played a down, coached a snap or owned the team into their Ring of Honor. Freddie’s hard work and oh so many great stories from Marshall to Moss and beyond would never be forgotten.

“You have your family and you have people you choose to add to your family,” McDaniel said. “Freddie was family to all of us.” PUBLICATION: Pioneer Press DATE: 9/3/18

Vikings change punters, sign journeyman Matt Wile

By Andrew Krammer

The Vikings didn’t keep status quo with the initial 53-man roster, making a change at punter by claiming former Steelers punter Matt Wile off waivers on Sunday.

Wile, 26, was waived by Pittsburgh and joins his sixth NFL team in the Vikings since he went undrafted out of Michigan in 2015. Punter Ryan Quigley was released on Sunday to make room for Wile.

Wile has appeared in four NFL regular-season games, all in 2016 for the Cardinals and Falcons. He had a net average of 43 yards on 12 punts, including two downed inside the 20-yard line and three fair catches. He punted in one game for the Steelers this preseason, averaging a net of 50 yards on three punts.

The Vikings replaced Quigley after a subpar preseason in which special teams coordinator Mike Priefer said he had just one quality punt out of six attempts in the Aug. 24 dress rehearsal exhibition against the Seahawks. The Vikings also had coverage issues this preseason that Priefer said had partly to do with poor punts.

Quigley was coming off a season in which he didn’t have a single touchback, becoming the first Vikings punter to do so since touchbacks were a recorded stat in 1991.

Vikings choose nine for practice squad

Nine Vikings cuts are staying in Minnesota after going unclaimed this weekend and being added to the practice squad on Sunday.

Receiver Chad Beebe was signed to the practice squad after the tryout player had an impressive preseason. Beebe stood out in the Vikings’ third preseason game when he caught the game- winning from Kyle Sloter to add to his five catches for 59 yards against the Seahawks.

He joins defensive tackle Curtis Cothran, tackle Storm Norton, receiver , linebacker Reshard Cliett, linebacker Garret Dooley, center Cornelius Edison, safety and guard Colby Gossett on the practice squad.

Beebe and Tocho missed the Vikings’ Aug. 30 preseason finale because of injuries. Edison returns after starting at center for the Vikings throughout the preseason, providing further depth there while starter Pat Elflein continues to recover from a lingering shoulder injury.

Gossett’s return means the Vikings currently have every 2018 draft pick on the roster. Seventh- round defensive end Ade Aruna is the only one unable to play this season, because of a season- ending knee injury.

Browns claim Odenigbo

Preseason standout defensive lineman didn’t have a chance to return to the Vikings. He was claimed off waivers Sunday by the .

Odenigbo, a 2017 seventh-round pick, starred this preseason, particularly in the Aug. 18 exhibition against the Jaguars when injuries forced him to move back to end. He had two sacks in that game after gaining weight this offseason to play more defensive tackle.

The Vikings waived Odenigbo Saturday and wanted to keep him on the practice squad but never got the chance. PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 9/3/18

Vikings players had utmost trust in Fred Zamberletti

By Sid Hartman

Over 74 years as a newspaperman, I have met all types of people involved in athletics. Two individuals have proven unique in their incredible overall impact: Lloyd “Snapper” Stein, who was the Gophers trainer for 41 years, and Fred Zamberletti, who was the trainer for the Vikings for 40 years and then stayed on as their historian before he died Sunday at age 86.

These two men were trusted and confided in explicitly by their athletes. And if a player had a problem, these were the men they went to for help.

I knew Zamberletti since his days at the University of Iowa, where he worked for seven years. He was one in a million.

Hall of Fame quarterback said that when he was 21 and drove from Athens, Ga., to Bemidji for the first Vikings training camp in 1961, the first person he met was Zamberletti.

“He became one of my best friends for life,” Tarkenton said. “He was as important as anybody that has ever been in the Vikings organization.

“He treated everybody, whether you were the star of the team or the youngest rookie on the team, you were important to him. He never raised his voice. He never said a negative thing about anybody. He just was as important as any Viking in the history of this proud franchise.”

Tarkenton said in those early days of the Vikings, there was a lot of pressure on every player. “He was everybody’s best friend, a confidant,” he said. “He was a sane voice in an insane world.

“He was in that locker room every day, in that training room every day. If you needed to get treatment at 12 o’clock at night, he was in there at 12 o’clock at night. He was as loyal as a person could ever be to all of us players, all the coaches, and he is just iconic.”

Tarkenton said there is no franchise without him.

“He deserves to be in that Circle of Honor,” he said. “When you talk about the greats, and historically there are so many of them, Fred Zamberletti, Stubby Eason, the former equipment manager, Bud Grant, so on and so forth — they built this franchise.”

Tarkenton said he got to call Zamberletti on Saturday to say goodbye. “That’s probably the most meaningful five minutes of my life, talking to Fred yesterday,” he said. “Every time I think about it, I cry a little bit, because we lost a giant of a man. I want all young Vikings fans to look up Fred Zamberletti and never forget him. He was the heart and soul and the foundation of what we call the Vikings.”

Grant said his conversation with Zamberletti on Saturday was also a tearful and difficult one. When Grant considers Stein and Zamberletti, he said that what made them great trainers was their dedication to the players’ well-being.

What came to Grant’s mind when he thought of Zamberletti?

“First of all it was integrity. Anything the players would say in the training room, Fred never came to me with that,” he said. “The players could talk with immunity knowing that what they were talking about never got to the coaches. Fred heard a lot of things that maybe I would be interested in, but he never, ever talked to me about gossip or what he heard players doing or saying or what their opinions were of any other part of the football team.

“His integrity was top grade. He had the full confidence of the players, at all times.”

Jerry Burns, who worked with Zamberletti both at Iowa and with the Vikings, said that Sunday was a day of tremendous loss.

“The players knew that he was always so close to them and had a great relationship with the players,” Burns said. “I just hate that this happened today.

“He was a great guy, a hardworking guy, a thorough guy. Everything about him was first class. But he was a great guy and I just feel terrible that he passed away.” PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 9/3/18

Zamberletti was the sports guy with an insight that could be trusted

By Patrick Reusse

The Vikings’ locker room was not a hospitable place for sports writers in the 1980s, and it was closer to hostile for a few years during the regime.

There were plenty of arrests and bad losses during this time, and thus plenty of opportunities to offer a few crack-back blocks in print.

A large share was offered in good humor, including early in my time as a St. Paul columnist, when Ahmad Rashad was getting much favorable publicity both locally and nationally.

I was writing for the afternoon St. Paul Dispatch. And once when I called Frank Howard, the retired, legendary football coach from Clemson, and identified my affiliation, he bellowed: “The St. Paul DIS-patch … does that paper get out of the city limits, boy?’’

The proper answer was “just barely.’’

Anyway, when covering Vikings games, I had started to take note of Ahmad’s proclivity for catching passes near the sidelines and his aversion of going over the middle to do so.

One afternoon at Winter Park, Ahmad mentioned this to me, meaning he had noticed, which also meant I had to keep mentioning it periodically.

Rashad’s positive publicity reached its zenith in 1982, when he was the subject of a first-person diary (in conjunction with Frank Deford) that ran for several weeks in Sports Illustrated.

In the midst of this, Ahmad once again saw me at Winter Park after his reluctance to go over the middle had been mentioned in a recent Dispatch column.

“Ahmad, you’re a national hero in Sports Illustrated, the giant of sports print media in this country,’’ I said. “Let a poor guy hacking away anonymously at the St. Paul afternoon newspaper have his fun.’’

That turned out to be Rashad’s last season. He made the mistake of going over the middle in the Pontiac Silverdome, was drilled in the back by Detroit’s James Hunter, suffered a broken back and didn’t play again.

Once for sure, maybe twice, trainer Fred Zamberletti mentioned to me that Ahmad was worked up over my humorous asides, and Zamby did so with a laugh. I’m guessing he figured that Ahmad was a guy who could use a needle …. even if a sentence in the Dispatch was hardly a pin prick.

Zamberletti’s admiration for football players knew no bounds. He saw on a daily basis from a half- foot away the commitment, the toughness and the willingness to deal with agony required to play this brutal game at the highest level.

He was 28 when he was hired as the Vikings’ third employee in 1961. He modernized in training techniques,, but stayed old school in his ideas about what should be the comfort level in the trainer’s room.

Zamberletti stayed as a trainer through 2003, and then became the team historian. He had a cubicle at Winter Park, and was given an office – near Bud Grant’s – at the new, ornate office and training complex in Eagan.

Zamby only made it out there a couple of times before falling ill in mid-July. He was 86 when he died early on Sunday morning from an infection that had overtaken his body.

The first thing Zamberletti wanted to look at was the training room. Impressed though he was with the immense facility, Zamby also offered this review to a friend:

“Too many chairs. You don’t want players getting comfortable in the training room. You only want them in there when there’s a good reason.’’

Zamby only kept a few chairs in the training room at Winter Park. It was a place for treatment, not bull-shooting sessions for players. As another disincentive for loitering, Zamberletti often had Opera music as background noise.

That will make non-injured players scatter in a hurry.

Now, if those athletes wanted to sit down during a break, and play a fast game of cribbage, Zamberletti would do that, and maintain a winning record said to approach 90 percent.

You knew Zamby had a tremendous fondness for a player when he threw an “Old’’ in front of his name. I took it to be short for being anOld Soul when it came to football, a warrior with a good person inside.

When telling a Jim Marshall story, with Zamby it was always, “Then, Old Marshall ...'’

It was also “Old Randle,’’ as in John, and “Old Winston,’’ as in Roy, and “Old Blair,’’ as in Matt, and on and on.

Zamby knew all when it came to the Vikings, and saw most of what was being said or written about them in the media.

There was a lone occasion in the decades we were friendly that I received a call from Zamberletti on this issue. I had written something negative about receiver Anthony Carter – seeing what appeared to be indifference in his body language and turned that into making a case for a lack of effort.

I took Zamby's call at the office on morning and he said, “I have to tell you this: You’re wrong about Anthony Carter.''

I probably said, “Tell me why,’’ which wasn’t necessary, because Zamby had called to tell me why.

Zamberletti told me about the beating Carter took with his legs, with his hips, battered but unwilling to give into that – a committed player, a competitor to such a degree that Zamby said this:

“Old Carter is one of the greatest competitors I’ve been around, and I’ve been around those kind of guys since Day One.’’

And I said, “Zamby, if you say I was wrong on Anthony Carter, I was wrong, and I appreciate the heads-up so I won’t make the same mistake again.’’

Beyond the great humor and story telling, that will be a lasting memory of Fred Zamberletti:

He was the sports guy when he offered his insight on someone, you needed no further confirmation. PUBLICATION: Pioneer Press DATE: 9/3/18

Vikings replace punter Ryan Quigley with untested Matt Wile, add Chad Beebe to practice squad

By Chris Tomasson

The Vikings will enter the season with their third punter in as many years.

They released Ryan Quigley on Sunday and replaced him with Matt Wile, claimed off waivers from Pittsburgh. Wile averaged 48.8 net yards for the Steelers in eight preseason punts, while Quigley struggled in the preseason. Quigley, who replaced Jeff Locke last year, averaged just 36.4 yards net on 22 punts this preseason.

The Vikings also signed nine players to the practice squad, one shy of the 10 allowed. They are receivers Chad Beebe and Jeff Badet; center Cornelius Edison; guard Colby Gossett; tackle Storm Norton; linebackers Reshard Cliett and Garret Dooley; defensive tackle Curtis Cothran, and safety Jack Tocho. All were waived on Saturday.

The Vikings wanted to add defensive lineman Ifeadi Odenigbo, also let go Saturday, to the practice squad, but he was claimed off waivers Sunday by the Cleveland Browns.

Wile played at Michigan, where he was a punter and kicker, before going undrafted in 2015. After spending time with Carolina in 2015 and Dallas in 2016, he saw his only NFL regular-season action in 2016, when he had 12 punts for Atlanta and Arizona for a net average of 39.7 yards. He lost the Steelers job in the preseason to incumbent Jordan Berry.

Quigley averaged 39.7 net yards during the 2017 regular season and tied an NFL record with no touchbacks. But he struggling this preseason, and the last straw might have been his deflected punt in the preseason finale last week.

“It’s the way this business works,” Quigley said of his release. “It’s tough to hear, but I have nothing but respect for the Vikings. They gave me a great opportunity.”

Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer informed Quigley he was being let go as the Vikings prepare for next Sunday’s regular-season opener against San Francisco at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“It always catches you off guard any time you get released,” Quigley said. “But I didn’t perform at the level I know I can this preseason, and that’s what happens in this league. If you don’t perform, you don’t usually last too long. … But I’m not going to lose confidence in myself.”

The Vikings’ practice Sunday was closed to the media. Players signed to the practice squad participated in the workout.

Beebe, an undrafted rookie, is the son of former NFL . His father said Sunday his son was “obviously disappointed” at being waived Saturday but will make the most of being on the practice squad.

“Ever since he’s been 7 years old, it’s been a dream of his to play in the NFL,” said Don Beebe, who played from 1989-97 and appeared in three Super Bowls with Buffalo and two with Green Bay. “I’m real excited for Chad and for the opportunity he has there. So I would expect he had a great preseason and that would carry over to the season.

“He knows he’s one snap away. This is the NFL. So you’re one snap away on being pulled off that practice squad and you got to play. So he will prepare every day like he’s playing.”

While Chad Beebe was let go Saturday, the Vikings did keep an undrafted rookie at receiver in Brandon Zylstra, a native of Spicer, Minn. Zylstra, who played the past two years in the Canadian Football League, was elated to make the 53-man roster.

“I’m super thankful and excited about this,” Zylstra wrote in a text message. “Something I’ve been manifesting since I was a little kid. Excited to get to work this week.”

ILOKA TAKES NO. 23

Vikings safety George Iloka no longer will wear Adrian Peterson’s old No. 28.

Iloka has switched to No. 23. After Iloka was signed Aug. 22, he said he was given No. 28 because the Vikings didn’t have any other numbers available but that he would change before the start of the regular season.

After roster moves were made Saturday, numbers became available. No. 23 had been worn by Terence Newman, who retired.

Also changing numbers are cornerback Holton Hill from 37 to 24, defensive tackle David Parry from 60 to 95 and Chad Beebe from 84 to 12.

No. 84 once was worn by Vikings hall of famer Randy Moss but has continued to be issued. Peterson’s No. 28 has not been issued for the regular season since he was last with Minnesota in 2016. PUBLICATION: Pioneer Press DATE: 9/3/18

Longtime Vikings trainer Fred Zamberletti dies at 86

By Dane Mizutani

Longtime Vikings trainer Fred Zamberletti died early Sunday morning, his family confirmed on his CaringBridge page. He was 86.

Zamberletti, an Iowa native, became a beloved figure in the Vikings organization over the course of his life. He was well-known as the team’s first athletic trainer, holding that position from the team’s inception in 1961 to 1998. He served as the team’s coordinator of medical services from 1999 to 2001 and as senior consultant and team historian from 2002 to 2018.

“The Minnesota Vikings family is devastated by the loss of our dear friend Fred Zamberletti,” Vikings owners Zygi and Mark Wilf said in a release. “Fred was a staple of the franchise since its founding, helping build the Vikings from an expansion club in 1961 to a team ingrained in the fabric of life for Minnesota and the Upper Midwest.”

Zamberletti was on the sideline for every game in the first 40 years of the franchise, missing a game for the first time on Dec. 24, 2011, a streak of 1,049 consecutive games, and remained one of the most knowledgeable sources on the Vikings organization until the day he died.

“Fred Zamberletti was the epitome of a Minnesota Vikings icon,” Vikings general manager Rick Spielman said in a release. “He was more to players than just an athletic trainer; he was a friend, a mentor and a father figure who earned respect and admiration from everyone he encountered. If there was a category in the Hall of Fame for athletic trainers, Fred would be at the top of the list for inductees. We will miss him dearly.”

Zamberletti struggled with his health in recent years and was admitted to Methodist Hospital briefly because of back pain in mid-July, according to his CaringBridge page. He was discharged and then readmitted a month later when an MRI revealed that he had an infection called Osteomyelitis in the spinal bone and disc.

After a couple of weeks of fighting, Zamberletti was announced to be in grave condition on Friday. “This is a difficult entry to write,” his family said on his CaringBridge page. “Our long-fought battle of Fred’s infection has been too trying for his body. We have now begun the journey to keep him comfortable and raise him up with love.”

Affectionately known as “Zamby”, Zamberletti was named Professional Athletic Trainer of the Year in 1986 and the Vikings were named NFL Athletic Training Staff of the Year 1996.

“I don’t know if there will ever be anybody that’s meant as much to the Minnesota Vikings as Fred Zamberletti,” former Vikings running back Chuck Foreman said. “I say that because of his genuine love for the organization. He cared so much about us as players. It’s not often we meet someone like that in our lives. I was fortunate to have known him.”

As good as Zamberletti was at his job, Foreman joked about how he was essentially a drill sergeant during players’ recovery process.

“He would work us into the ground to get us ready to get back on the field,” Foreman said with a laugh. “I remember he would get done and guys would be like, ‘Well, I might as well practice so I don’t have to go through that again.’ ”

“He definitely wouldn’t let anybody off easy,” former Vikings defensive end Carl Eller added with a laugh. “You never liked the recovery process. That was the worst part of the injury. You didn’t want to stay on the sidelines with him very long.”

Still, Zamberletti always had the best interest of the players in mind with whatever he did.

“He always got the most out of us without jeopardizing our health,” Eller said. “There was a great deal of trust. It was good to have somebody like that.”

Zamberletti was inducted into the Vikings Ring of Honor on Dec. 20, 1998.

“He was truly one of kind,” Foreman said. “There will never be another Fred.” PUBLICATION: Vikings.com DATE: 9/3/18

5 Things to Know About New Vikings P Matt Wile

By Craig Peters

The Vikings on Sunday announced the acquisition of punter Matt Wile.

Wile joins Minnesota after spending the preseason with Pittsburgh.

Here are five things to know about the new Vikings punter.

1. Frequent flyer

Wile has had a winding path in the NFL. He began his career as an undrafted free agent with Carolina in May 2015 but did not play for the Panthers.

He signed with Dallas the following offseason but was released by the Cowboys before the 2016 season.

Wile then played in one game for the Falcons in November 2016 before he joined the the following month. Wile played in three games for the Cardinals and was released before the start of the 2017 season.

He signed with Pittsburgh in January and competed with Jordan Berry for the Steelers gig.

2. Pro numbers

Wile has appeared in four NFL games, totaling 553 yards on 12 punts with a long of 59 and an average of 46.1.

This preseason, the 26-year-old punted eight times for 392 yards (49.0 average) with a long of 58 for the Steelers. He and the coverage team had a net average of 48.8 and placed four punts inside the 20-yard line without having a touchback.

3. Senior standout

Wile attended Francis W. Parker High School in San Diego, California. He made 10 of 13 field goals as a senior and recorded 91 touchbacks on 101 kickoffs that season. He was invited to play in the U.S. Army All-American Game.

4. Michigan man

Wile played in 52 games as a kicker, punter and kickoff specialist for the Michigan Wolverines.

He recorded 108 touchbacks on 284 kickoffs and made 20 of 29 field goals. He also totaled 3,658 yards on 91 punts (40.2 average) and placed 29 of those 91 punts inside an opponents’ 20-yard line.

5. Family tradition

Wile’s father, grandfather, great grandfather and great-great grandfather all attended the University of Michigan’s Medical School. Wile slightly broke tradition by enrolling in Michigan’s College of Engineering.

PUBLICATION: VIKING UPDATE DATE: 9/3/18

Former Vikings find good and bad in weekend of releases By Tim Yotter

The Minnesota Vikings saw a few of their former offensive lineman released around the league, underscoring the team’s struggles to find quality offensive linemen in the middle rounds.

Willie Beavers, whom the Vikings drafted in the fourth round from Western Michigan in 2016, played in two games his rookie year. But he was often one of the game-day inactives, despite the Vikings suffering an incredible amount of injuries on the offensive line that year.

From there, he had an October 2017 tryout with the but wasn’t signed. In November last year, the Vikings brought him back on the practice squad, but he lasted only one week before being released again. In January, he was signed to a futures deal with the , who released him on Saturday.

T.J. Clemmings had a little longer stay with the Vikings, but he also was never able to establish himself after being drafted by the Vikings in the fourth round in 2015.

As a rookie, Clemmings started all 16 games for the Vikings, then started 14 of 15 games played in that disastrous 2016 season on the offensive line. He was with the Vikings last offseason, but after they released him, he was signed by the Washington Redskins, where he started two of six games played before being placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury in November.

On Saturday the Redskins released him, but on Sunday the Oakland Raiders claimed him.

Jeremiah Sirles made a little bigger impact for the Vikings as an acquisition from San Diego, where he worked under Norv Turner. In 2015 with the Vikings, Sirles didn’t play, but in 2016, when the Vikings were experiencing a rash of injuries on the offensive line, he started 10 of 14 games. Last year, he started four of 14 games, but the Vikings declined to tender him as a restricted free agent in March.

Instead, he signed a one-year deal with the , but on Saturday he was placed on injured reserve.

The Vikings also saw several other short-term players from their past get released around the league.

Receiver Moritz Boehringer, a sixth-round pick in 2016 after spending time on German football teams, spent that season on the Vikings practice squad. He was released before the start of the 2017 season, had a workout with the Bengals and then signed with them in May. However, the Bengals released him on Saturday.

Running back Bronson Hill, who was on Minnesota’s practice squad for two months last year, spent brief time on the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad and active roster late last year before being released in May. He spent time with the this offseason, but they released him on Saturday.

Zach Moore, the Concordia-St. Paul defensive end who spent time with the in 2014- 15, the Vikings in 2015-16, the and in 2016, and finally the Panthers in 2017 and this offseason, was also released.

And, while the Vikings claimed punter Matt Wile off waivers on Sunday, they had a chance at another former Vikings punter. Jeff Locke, who punted for Minnesota from 2013-16, was released by the 49ers on Saturday after spending five games last year with the .

The 49ers also released former Vikings safety Antone Exum, who was a 2014 sixth-round pick in Minnesota and spent his first three seasons with the Vikings.

Also of note: Isaac Asiata, the offensive lineman who is the cousin of former Vikings running back Matt Asiata, was released by the Miami Dolphins, and former Eagan native Zach Zenner, who played at South Dakota State, was placed on injured reserve by the Detroit Lions. PUBLICATION: VIKING Update DATE: 9/3/18

Vikings lose a legend with death of Fred Zamberletti

By Tim Yotter

The Minnesota Vikings are mourning the death of longtime athletic trainer Fred Zamberletti, who wore many hats for the organization. He died Sunday from an infection at the age of 86.

Zamberletti started to experience back pain on July 16 and was admitted to the hospital and discharged. On Aug. 11, he was readmitted to Methodist Hospital, with an MRI on Aug. 16 showing an infection called Osteomyelitis of the spinal bone and infection in the disc space.

“The Minnesota Vikings family is devastated by the loss of our dear friend Fred Zamberletti. Fred was a staple of the franchise since its founding, helping build the Vikings from an expansion club in 1961 to a team ingrained in the fabric of life for Minnesota and the Upper Midwest,” Vikings owners Zygi and Mark Wilf said in a statement Sunday morning. “Fred worked tirelessly, at one point building a streak of 1,049 consecutive Vikings games attended, and was loved by everyone throughout the organization – players, coaches, and staff. He cared deeply about the health of his players as well as their lives off the field.”

Zamberletti was the Vikings’ head athletic trainer from 1961-1998, coordinator of medical services from 1999-2001 and senior consultant and team historian from 2002-2018.

Even before that last role with the Vikings, he was often the go-to guy for stories about the legends of the franchise, as he was with the team since its inception. From playing bocce ball with guys like Randy Moss to schooling offensive linemen in cribbage in the storage rooms around the team’s old Winter Park facility to regaling media with humorous stories, there was hardly a person that was regularly around the team that didn’t know and love Zamberletti.

“Fred Zamberletti was the epitome of a Minnesota Vikings icon. He was more to players than just an athletic trainer; he was a friend, a mentor and a father figure who earned respect and admiration from everyone he encountered,” general manager Rick Spielman said. “If there was a category in the Hall of Fame for athletic trainers, Fred would be at the top of the list for inductees. We will miss him dearly.”

Zamberletti didn’t miss a game, home or road, from the start of the franchise in 1961 until the 2001 season. The Vikings celebrated Fred Zamberletti Day on Dec. 20, 1998, when more than 100 Vikings alumni turned out to celebrate Zamberletti’s induction into the Vikings Ring of Honor prior to the Vikings- game.

With the many hats he wore in promoting the franchise to anyone he met, he earned numerous nicknames – former head coach Bud Grant acknowledged him as the “Cornerstone of the Vikings” while former general manager Mike Lynn referred to Zamberletti as “Mr. Viking.” Most just called him “Zamby.”

“When I reflect upon the legacy of Fred Zamberletti, I think of a man who was loyal, intelligent, hard- working, tough, and dedicated. Fred was a true Renaissance man,” Vikings COO Kevin Warren said. “He was incredibly knowledgeable about wide-ranging subjects and could capture your attention with his storytelling ability. We rarely discussed football and primarily focused on family, faith, music and life. Fred had a powerful and unique ability to relate to everyone and was a man with a huge heart who deeply loved God and spent every day striving to make the world a better place.”

In addition to numerous professional awards, Zamberletti was inducted into the Minnesota Athletic Trainers Hall of Fame and was chosen Professional Athletic Trainer of the Year in 1986 by the Drackett Company of Cincinnati. He and the Vikings staff earned the 1996 NFL Athletic Training Staff of the Year award. In 1999, he earned the Cain Fain Award at the NFL Physicians Sports Sciences Symposium and was an Honorary Fellow of the Minneapolis Sports Medicine Center. Recognized by the governor as an Honorary Ambassador of the State of Minnesota, Zamberletti also received the Minneapolis Honorary Citizen Award. In 2011, Zamberletti was recognized by his alma mater with the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Zamberletti was born on May 28, 1932 and grew up in Melcher, Iowa. A successful entrepreneur and a man of deep faith, Zamberletti was a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Infantry. Following his graduation from the University of Iowa, he served as chief physical therapist at Hibbing General Hospital in 1959 and head athletic trainer at the University of Toledo in 1960 before joining the Vikings at the team’s inception at 1961.

“With his incredible stories and his passion for the team, he was respected by us as owners,” the Wilfs said. “Each of us inside the Vikings has our own personal memories we shared with Fred and those will never be forgotten. Our thoughts are with the entire Zamberletti family today.” PUBLICATION: VIKING Update DATE: 9/3/18

Sunday slant: Robison’s release shows brutality of business

By Tim Yotter

Brian Robison started his Minnesota Vikings career behind Kenechi Udeze and Ray Edwards, waiting in the wings with the class, dignity and maturity that belied his rookie status in 2007. Now, as an 11-year veteran of the Minnesota Vikings, he showed that quality all the way through his release on Saturday.

Robison has always been a talented, try-hard defensive end who grew into a locker room leader that was both inspirational for his level of his concern and dedication, as well as the one that was always able to offer the quick quip to make teammates burst into laughter. He could be the agitator when it came to rivalries within the locker room – he loves his Texas Longhorns – but in the spirit that everyone knew it would never turn confrontational.

When Mike Zimmer arrived to the Vikings in 2014, he turned to Robison and Chad Greenway as the veterans in the locker room to deliver his message. On Saturday, the message of his release was delivered to him.

“Brian has been one of the best leaders I’ve seen in my career and I’m happy I got the opportunity to coach him,” Zimmer said after Robinson’s release. “He’s been such a great player for us and an even better help building the kind of culture we want with this team. Brian will be missed, but his influence will continue to be felt on this team going forward.”

In business terms, his release saved $1.105 million in salary-cap space, and with the addition of veterans Terence Newman and Kendall Wright to the list of roster cuts on Saturday, the Vikings should have about $10 million in cap space when the moves are all accounted.

But among more than three dozen roster moves for the Vikings on Saturday, Robison was the headline news for all the wrong reasons. It was, as Viking Update writer John Holler likes to remind people, “show business, not show people.”

Newman, who will turn 41 on Tuesday, was the oldest Vikings on the roster and the oldest in the NFL. Robison, 35, was the second-old Viking and the longest-tenured with the team. Now, the “old guys” are Kirk Cousins, Everson Griffen, Marcus Sherels and Andrew Sendejo – all at the ripe old age of 30.

Robison’s release wasn’t a complete surprise – I speculated about the possibility in my final roster prediction and a month earlier on the TalkNorth.com podcast when asked for some surprise veterans that could be released – but I couldn’t convince myself that the Vikings would follow through with the Robison move, despite how deeply talented the defensive line had become. It was clear how much the Vikings valued for his off-field leadership as much as his on-field production.

“From the moment he arrived, he proved to be a tireless worker, a great teammate, and, most importantly, a leader on and off the field,” general manager Rick Spielman said. “Along with being one of the best to ever wear a Vikings uniform, Brian has an uncanny ability to connect with everyone he meets and a magnetic personality that commands respect.”

He was never the most ballyhooed defensive end on the team – early in his career, that distinction went to Jared Allen and then turned to Everson Griffen and Danielle Hunter. But it takes a special player and even more special person to finish a season as a starter, like he did in 2016, and say that Hunter deserves an opportunity to start in front of him.

Coaches knew that, but many veteran players would fight that tooth and nail.

“Obviously, I think he’s going to have a bright future in this league. I think he’s going to be a superstar when it’s all said and done,” Robison said of Hunter in June 2017 (a year later, the Vikings gave Hunter a five-year, $72 million contract extension). “For me, I’ve been out here for one reason and one reason only and that’s to bring a championship to the state of Minnesota. Whether that’s me being in the starting lineup, whether that’s him being in the starting lineup, whatever is good for the team is what’s going to be good for everybody. At the end of the day we’ve all got one goal and one goal only and that’s to hold up that Super Bowl trophy at the end of the year.”

The Super Bowl has eluded Robison, like it has the Vikings, for the whole of their NFL existences. But he never stopped fighting for one.

After reaching the NFC Championship in January, it motivated him to return for another season. The further into their careers that players get, the more a Super Bowl means to them.

“Absolutely. I think the older you get, you understand the window is closing,” he said late last year. “I’m proud of this football team. We’ve got a great group of guys. We’ve got a lot of unselfish guys and we truly care about each other. We’re truly brothers in this locker room. I just couldn’t think of a better group of guys to be around on a daily basis.”

That has now come to end, but, as always, he stayed classy until the end.

“Sad Day! I love you Vikings Fans, teammates, coaches and all I have come in contact with over the years,” he tweeted after his release. “This one hurts, but it’s not goodbye. More like see you later. Thank you @Vikings for 11 amazing years and one opportunity.”

Robison always embraced his role, whether that was as a leader or as someone passing the baton but could still be a valuable cog in a well-oiled machine. He did it selflessly, whether it was him consistently mentoring younger defensive linemen off the field by teaching them techniques in the trenches or showing them how to search for clues of what an offense had coming for them.

He took at least two salary reductions along the way to remain with the team he loved dearly and built a fan base that loved him back. There wasn’t a more approachable player for fans or one that appreciated them more.

His big desire was to reward them with a Super Bowl and motivate his teammates toward that goal, too.

“It’s something that the guys have to understand that you have an opportunity here to do some great things and you have to take advantage of that opportunity. If you don’t, you’ll probably regret it for the rest of your life because at the end of the day, like I said, there’s no guarantee that you’re going to be in this position next year,” he said earlier this year. “I was in this position in 2009 and it’s taken this long to get back. You have to live in the moment, and when you have an opportunity like this, you’ve got to grab it and just go with it.

“Hopefully I can go out on top and bring this city, this state and this organization what it deserves.”

He knew the end of his career was coming soon, and so did his family. It’s the reason he took time to contemplate this offseason if he had one more run in him. It turned out the organization’s version of “soon” was sooner than he wanted.

“It’s funny. I’ve got grey hairs now. My daughter told me, ‘Your hair is turning white.’ I’m 35 years old and I still feel mentally that I’m about 15 or 16. Something is either wrong with my head or my body,” he joked this summer.

And the heart of that inner child quickly came out when asked, as a follow-up, if those grey hairs would show more if he returned to the long hairstyle he used to don.

“Yeah,” he said, “but it would luscious.” PUBLICATION: 1500 ESPN DATE: 9/3/18

Zulgad: Fred Zamberletti was a throwback to before NFL went corporate

By Judd Zulgad

The Vikings’ move from Winter Park in Eden Prairie to Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center in Eagan last March caused the observation to be made that the franchise had gone completely corporate.

The outdated Metrodome was replaced by the most modern of football venues, U.S. Bank Stadium, in 2016. That still left the Vikings practicing at a facility that had only two fields and once saw cornerback Ken Irvin go flying into a wooded area (literally) as he tried to break up a pass. But Winter Park now sits empty and the Vikings’ pockets are full of cash.

The NFL has become a billion-dollar venture that has little time for stories of the old days or characters.

Nonetheless, the springtime observation that the shift to Eagan had ended the Vikings’ connection to the past turned out to be flawed. That occurred to me on Sunday upon seeing the news that longtime Vikings trainer Fred Zamberletti had passed away at the age of 86. Zamberletti was among the last true links to the Vikings being about football and not business.

If you haven’t read Patrick Reusse’s column on Zamberletti from Friday’s Star Tribune you need to do so. It paints a fantastic picture of what Zamberletti meant to so many involved with the franchise.

Zamberletti was the Vikings’ trainer (we didn’t call them athletic trainers until far later) from their first season in 1961 through 1998. He went into the Vikings’ Ring of Honor in ’98. He then became a senior consultant and team historian. Zamberletti was serving in the latter two capacities when I joined Kevin Seifert on the Vikings beat working for the Star Tribune in 2005.

As Jon Krawczynski of the Athletic tweeted on Sunday, there was nothing better than seeing Zamberletti standing on the practice field — maybe at training camp in Mankato, maybe at Winter Park — and getting a “Whaddaya say there, boy?”

It was how Zamberletti greeted everybody and it didn’t matter who you were. The man never played favorites. The smart move was to do as little talking as possible because Zamberletti was full of stories and, most importantly, he had the ability to tell those stories with all the details included.

Zamberletti was kind but he also had a gruff side that was a throwback to the NFL he knew best. Remarkably, he attended every single Vikings game from Day 1 through Dec. 24, 2011, according to the Star Tribune. The streak hit 1,049 before ending.

A native of Melcher, Iowa, Zamberletti was an early riser and he expected the same from others. There was more than one Vikings intern who mentioned that Zamberletti had expressed his displeasure with that day’s newspaper clippings having shown up a bit later than he liked. The only thing was one got the feeling “Zamby” thought anything after 6 in the morning was a bit late.

This was one of the reasons that Zamberletti qualified as a character — this is meant strictly as a positive — in a sport where being one is now seen as a negative.

There once seemed to be great pride taken in being considered a character in your sport. Talking to people and regaling them with stories, even the media, was the norm. These days if you talk to a member of the media too long, and you’re not part of the media relations staff, you’re liable to be asked to turn over all records of your conversation.

What made Zamberletti special was the fact that you wanted to talk to him not for inside information but rather his stories about the Vikings’ past or just to listen to him philosophize on any number of subjects, many of which had nothing to do with football.

In addition to greeting visitors with a “Whaddaya say there, boy?,” Zamberletti had another special welcome especially for Star Tribune writers. Kent Youngblood was a colleague of mine for many years at the paper and had returned from a few years at the Wisconsin State Journal in the late 1990s to cover the Vikings.

Youngblood spent a few years on the beat before moving on to write about another team. Zamberletti never forgot him. “Where’s Hemingway?” Zamberletti would say in reference to Youngblood’s whereabouts even years after he had left the Vikings beat.

Zamberletti was far more than a one-line type of guy.

Years before I started on the Vikings beat at the Star Tribune, I spent a lengthy period writing for Bob Lurtsema’s “Viking Update.” Lurtsema, who definitely qualifies as a character, and Zamberletti were friends from Lurtsema‘s many years with the Vikings.

Lurtsema gave me an assignment to go talk with Zamberletti about Fred’s idea for the location of a Vikings stadium. I want to say this was shortly after Red McCombs had bought the franchise in 1998 and was looking to get out of the Metrodome.

In what turned into a lengthy meeting just outside the Vikings’ locker room at Winter Park, Zamberletti discussed his idea to build a Vikings stadium on the site of the State Fairgrounds complete with a parking plan and numerous other well thought-out tidbits.

It never crossed my mind just how unique it was to hear this proposal. Zamberletti, who might have still been the team’s trainer, was giving his own blue print for a new stadium.

Can you imagine someone in Zamberletti‘s position providing his vision for a team’s NFL stadium in 2018? It wouldn’t happen. That’s too bad.

A wise man, a fantastic story teller and a character in sport where there are few characters left, Zamberletti will be missed. PUBLICATION: 1500 ESPN DATE: 9/3/18

Vikings add punter, release Quigley and announce practice squad

By Matthew Coller

The Minnesota Vikings have claimed former Pittsburgh Steelers punter Matt Wile off waivers.

Wile punted for the Arizona Cardinals and and in 2016. He had a total of 12 punts for an average of 46.1 yards per boot. He punted three times in preseason this year, averaging 50.0 yards per kick.

Punter Ryan Quigley, averaged 42.2 yards per punt last year, was released on Sunday.

The Vikings also announced the following players have been added to the practice squad:

PUBLICATION: ESPN DATE: 9/3/18

2018 Minnesota Vikings starters, 53-man roster, schedule prediction

By Courtney Cronin

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Vikings cut their roster to 53 players on Saturday. Here’s at the 53-man roster with starters in bold:

Quarterback (3): Kirk Cousins, Trevor Siemian, Kyle Sloter

The Vikings built their quarterback room with a player to fill every role: Cousins, the clear-cut starter, Siemian, the experienced backup and Sloter, the developmental QB with promise. Sloter’s solid performances in preseason games don’t hold as much weight as Siemian’s 24 NFL starts, so while he isn’t expected to jump the former Bronco on the depth chart, keeping three quarterbacks on the active roster was an important move for a franchise well-versed in the need for depth at the position.

Running back (4): Dalvin Cook, Latavius Murray, Mike Boone, Roc Thomas

Boone and Thomas, two undrafted free agents, impressed coaches with their versatile skill sets and what they can provide as change-of-pace running backs. Keeping both on the 53-man roster is also a smart move for the future with Murray a pending free agent after the 2018 season.

Fullback (1): C.J. Ham

Ham provides great pass protection and can be part of various personnel groupings. He’s also a solid special-teamer.

Wide receiver (5): Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs, , , Brandon Zylstra

Minnesota had a ton of wide receivers in camp but the depth options were limited behind Stacy Coley and Brandon Zylstra. Treadwell’s surge kept Kendall Wright off the 53-man roster while adding a player like Zylstra brings an important physicality the Vikings hope translates to the red zone. Treadwell, Coley and Zylstra are also important assets on special teams.

Tight end (3): Kyle Rudolph, David Morgan,

The Vikings don’t have anyone opposite Rudolph to stretch the field vertically after not drafting an F tight end. Rudolph’s production could spike during his time working with tight end aficionados John DeFilippo and Kirk Cousins while this position group will also be relied on heavily for blocking purposes.

Offensive line (9): Riley Reiff, , Pat Elflein, Mike Remmers, , Brett Jones, Aviante Collins, Brian O’Neill,

Elflein was activated off the PUP list, meaning his return shouldn’t be far off. In the meantime, the Vikings will look to Brett Jones or Danny Isidora to fill in at center for Week 1 and possibly longer. Minnesota may still look to upgrade the offensive line in the coming days.

Defensive line (9): Everson Griffen, Danielle Hunter, , Linval Joseph, , Tashawn Bower, , , David Parry

This year, the Vikings went with more defensive tackles than they did edge rushers. They have the depth at 3-technique behind Richardson, but flushing out their reserve options behind Joseph at nose tackle will be something that takes place over the course of the season and is a reason Parry is on the 53-man roster.

Linebacker (5): Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, , Eric Wilson, Devante Downs

Seventh-round pick Downs beat out Reshard Cliett, Garret Dooley and Antwione Williams for the fifth linebacker spot. Minnesota chose to go with less depth here given the options it has to get creative with defensive backs in hybrid linebacker roles.

Secondary (11): Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes, , Mike Hughes, Holton Hill, Marcus Sherels; Harrison Smith, Andrew Sendejo, George Iloka, Anthony Harris,

Terence Newman’s retirement on cut-down day gave the Vikings one less decision to make at cornerback and helped top UDFA Hill make the roster. The five safeties Minnesota has at its disposal will allow Mike Zimmer to get creative in sub packages.

Specialists (3): K Daniel Carlson, P Matt Wile, LS Kevin McDermott

After a disappointing preseason for Ryan Quigley, the Vikings waived their former punter after claiming Wile off waivers. Quigley’s preseason ended with a blocked punt in Tennessee.

Vikings revised game-by game prediction Here's how Minnesota Vikings reporter Courtney Cronin sees the season playing out.

DATE OPP. W-L Sept. 9 vs. 49ers W Sept. 16 at Packers L Sept. 23 vs. Bills W Sept. 27 at Rams L Oct. 7 at Eagles W Oct. 14 vs. Cardinals W Oct. 21 at Jets W Oct. 28 vs. Saints L Nov. 4 vs. Lions W Nov. 18 at Bears L Nov. 25 vs. Packers W Dec. 2 at Patriots L Dec. 10 at Seahawks W Dec. 16 vs. Dolphins W Dec. 23 at Lions L Dec. 30 vs. Bears W