Traded Vikings Corner Back on the Market

Once upon a time, Vikings corner Mekhi Blackmon was considered an intriguing young building block. He then got shipped out with a trade, ending his Vikings journey prematurely. The 2023 3rd-Round selection played his rookie season in Minnesota before losing his sophomore season to injury. He never got a shot at playing in a third season for the Vikings.

The Colts snagged him for a 6th. The Colts are now moving on by waiving him. Consider the update to arrive from Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team: “The #Colts have waived CB Mekhi Blackmon, a former 3rd-round pick of the #Vikings who they traded for last year. He appeared in all 17 games for Indianapolis last season, starting 11, and recorded 2 INTs, 64 tackles, and 7 pass breakups.”

Traded Vikings Corner Mekhi Blackmon Gets Sent Packing

Opting to set Mr. Blackmon free by waiving him is an odd decision.

For starters, the Colts are a team that’s looking to contend in 2026. A major part of the reason why Indianapolis is such a formidable team is due to the presence of the top corners: CB1 Sauce Gardner and CB2 Charvarius Ward. Both of those guys are matchup players who make life difficult for the other team’s top receivers.

Keep in mind, as well, that former Vikings safety Camryn Bynum is playing good ball down in the AFC South.

But why the decision to move on from Mekhi Blackmon?

Last year, Blackmon got into seventeen games, starting eleven. He tossed 64 tackles onto the stat sheet to stand alongside 2 interceptions, 7 passes defended, and 2 tackles for loss. PFF gave him a tepid grade, assigning a 51.2 grade.

Part of his problem is that he’s built like a slot corner who doesn’t play in the slot. Many DCs won’t like working with a corner who is 5’11” and 178 pounds who plays the majority of his snaps out wide. Last year, Blackmon earned 629 snaps as a wide corner but only 69 kicked inside. Is that part of the reason for the Colts moving on?

Over on the Colts’ website, there’s some coverage of the news alongside some basic commentary. Showing one corner the door allowed the Colts to say hello to somebody else.

The initial comments: “The Indianapolis Colts today signed free agent cornerback Kenneth Harris and waived cornerback Mekhi Blackmon. Harris, 6-0, 192 pounds, participated in the New England Patriots’ 2026 offseason program and training camp. He was originally signed by the Patriots as an undrafted free agent on May 8, 2026”

Presumably, the Colts shopped around for a trade taker but didn’t find anybody willing to take the plunge. Making room for the undrafted corner to come to town meant moving on from Blackmon.

Earlier in the week, the Vikings made some corner news by moving on from Dwight McGlothern. Doing so came after “Nudie” had been kept around for a pair of seasons on the 53-man roster. He’ll now be looking to get his career’s second chapter going somewhere else.

Best guess is that all of Byron Murphy Jr., Isaiah Rodgers, James Pierre, and Chuck Demmings get onto the final team. Will that be enough of a corner cluster to get the job done? The other in-house options are seemingly being led by Zemaiah Vaughn, a tall corner who has been praised for packing on muscle.

Mekhi Blackmon is 27. Expect him to land on his feet somewhere.

Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.