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MINNEAPOLIS – Less than three weeks after sending a fifth-round pick to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for Kaare Vedvik, the Minnesota Vikings eliminated the 25-year-old kicker / kicker.
The Vikings also split Saturday with former first-round first-round pick Laquon Treadwell, who failed to play a role in the Minnesota offensive in the three seasons following his 23rd-minute pick overall ranking in 2016.
After a pre-season of uncertainty around their specialists, the Vikings will choose Dan Bailey as kicker, Matt Wile, the punter and rookie Austin Cutting at long-snapper. According to one source, the hope is that the team will be able to sign Vedvik to the training team on Sunday if it cancels the waivers.
The New Norwegian kicker scored 12 goals out of 13 overall in the last two Baltimore contests, before going 1-on-4 on such throws with the Vikings. Upon their arrival in Minnesota, Viking coaches considered allowing Vedvik to assume kicker and kicker responsibilities, something he had done during his college career in Marshall, despite the difficulties in managing a workload. as heavy – especially for a rookie – were noted.
The struggles of Vedvik became more frequent during the last days of the pre-season. At Minnesota's final practice before playing in Buffalo, Vedvik scored 5 goals out of 9 on placements. Asked what he had learned with pre-season kicker treatment, coach Mike Zimmer emphasized his role in helping these players overcome obstacles.
"It's a good question," Zimmer said. "I guess the most important thing is that I have to have more patience, probably."
Treadwell had just finished his 2018 campaign, scoring his first professional touchdown, recording a record-breaking 302 rushing yards, while leading the team in the losing streaks. Minnesota chose not to pick the fifth-year option from the receiver, which would have cost the Vikings $ 10,162 million next season.
Instead, Minnesota pledges $ 2,506,360 by releasing Treadwell prior to his fourth season, given the signing bonus ($ 1,356,360) and the guaranteed portion of his 2019 salary ($ 1.15 million). of dollars).
According to a source familiar with the language in Treadwell's contract, there is a clearing provision, which means that if Treadwell is claimed as a waiver, the guarantee due by the Vikings will be reduced by the amount the new team will pay him.
The news of Treadwell's release is not surprising considering how the past three seasons have gone. Minnesota has been trying to trade Treadwell this season and several times since the 2018 season – both the day of the deadline cut and again towards the trading deadline of October.
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound catcher never reached the expected level when he was selected in the first round as a big physical outdoor catcher who could also line up in the slot and create inconsistencies when he ran under it. routes. Treadwell was left behind by the other players on the depth card and was unable to secure the No. 3 catcher position behind Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs in the 2017 and 2018 seasons. .
The Vikings did not separate with many first-round picks until their fourth season. The last was Wideout Troy Williamson, the No. 7 pick in the 2005 draft, which the Vikings traded for a sixth round pick after three seasons.
Among other notable cuts to Minnesota on Saturday was Kyle Sloter, who had the highest pre-season smuggling rank among quarterbacks with 40 or more attempts. Sloter scored 39 of his 51 pre-season passes for 443 yards, four touchdowns, one interception and a 120.0 rating.
The Vikings also tried to find a trading partner for Sloter on Saturday before releasing him on the deadline. The quarterback arrived in Minnesota in 2017 after being removed from office by Denver, where he began his career in the NFL as an unengaged free agent. Sloter was soon promoted to the training team as an active player due to a contactless knee injury suffered by Sam Bradford at the start of the 2017 season and spent the season as as a substitute for Case Keenum.
Sloter has never participated in a regular season game in Minnesota, but steadily gives way to big numbers during his pre-season games. Despite an impressive line of stats in these games, Sloter never hired a second-team representative at the shift position, which is the role Sean Mannion assumes this season in Minnesota behind the starter Kirk Cousins.
"I do not know if you know all the details, but you see how he plays and does the game," Zimmer said about Sloter's pre-season performance. "He needs to improve a lot in the other aspects of the quarter, make the right checks, put people in the right training, make sure that the motion is there, do not miss the clock while that is. he's eight meters ahead. He has to improve a lot if he wants to be a quarterback. "
Earlier in the pre-season, Zimmer criticized Sloter's abilities in practice compared to what he does in games. Although preseason practices in July and August are open to the media, seasonal practices are not. According to several team sources, these practices played a determining role in the fact that Sloter did not progress in the depth chart over the past three seasons. His difficulties in maneuvering the caucus, finding the right call and finding the right pace, as well as his precision and decision-making, have hindered Sloter's ability to strengthen as a replacement for Cousins.
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