Vikings Drop Young WR after 3 Weeks

Right after the 2026 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings signed about 20 undrafted free agents, a standard process for most NFL teams. But three weeks later, Minnesota is already saying goodbye to one rookie: Maryland wide receiver Shaleak Knotts.

Minnesota is shuffling the bottom of its wide receiver depth chart.

Knotts may be an option for a roster spot down the road, yet with organized team activities a week away, he’s not in the purple plans for 2026.

Terrill Davis Gets the Summer Audition, Not Knotts

Davis seems to have taken Knotts’s spot.

Knotts Out in MIN

It was a short stay for Knotts in the Twin Cities. NBC Sports‘ Josh Alper wrote Tuesday, “The Vikings opened up a spot on their 90-man roster on Tuesday. The team announced that they have waived wide receiver Shaleak Knotts and they did not make a corresponding addition to fill out their active roster.”

“Knotts signed with the Vikings after going undrafted last month. He appeared in 43 games for Maryland over the last four seasons and caught 67 passes for 963 yards and seven touchdowns while playing for the Terrapins.”

Had the rookie remained on the Vikings’ roster, he likely would’ve battled for a practice squad spot this summer.

The Revised WR Unit

Have no fear: the Vikings do not have a shortage of summer wide receivers after the Knotts subtraction. They’ll be just fine.

Sans Knotts, here’s the updated WR corps for Kevin O’Connell’s team:

By late August, that group will shrink to five or six men, and Knotts faced an uphill battle to make a dent in the first place.

The Biography on Knotts

Knotts projects as a classic undrafted prospect with one clear strength: vertical production. The Maryland wide receiver waited his turn in college, then busted out in 2025 with 44 catches for 717 yards and 6 touchdowns, leading the Terrapins in both receiving yards and touchdown receptions. His 16.3 yards per reception underscored his ability to stretch the field, win downfield, and create big plays.

At 6’3″ and 194 pounds, Knotts possesses ideal outside-receiver size. His background as a former four-star recruit, coupled with his multi-sport high school career (basketball and track), highlights his impressive body control and ball-tracking skills.

The primary concern lies in his lack of polish. Knotts didn’t fully emerge until his final college season, suggesting the Vikings were banking on his raw talent, late development, and potential in a specific role, rather than a lengthy track record of dominance. He profiled as a practice squad candidate who could make an impact by excelling on deep routes, contested catches, and special teams.

Now, of course, Knotts will hope another team gives him a summer audition.

Davis in His Spot

Most believe that because Minnesota signed Davis a few days ago, he swiped Knotts’s spot. Davis embodies the classic developmental wide receiver prospect for the Vikings: productive, athletic enough, but likely a project requiring more time than fans might prefer.

He began his collegiate career by dominating Division II defenses at Central Oklahoma, where he amassed 109 catches, 1,609 yards, and 15 touchdowns. Upon moving to the Big 12 with Oklahoma State, he continued to contribute, catching 29 passes for 373 yards and demonstrating his ability to adapt to a higher level of competition.

Davis’s appeal is clear: he possesses sufficient speed to threaten defenses vertically, strong hands for difficult downfield throws, and the leaping ability to win contested catches. While these traits are often praised in film reviews, a recurring concern is occasional drops on easier targets.

Standing 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds with a reported 4.65 forty-yard dash, Davis definitely isn’t a burner, but he clearly has enough functional speed and juice to be a factor.

Davis, like Knotts, projects more as a practice squad candidate with legitimate upside than someone slated for immediate offensive snaps.

It’s also worth noting that Minnesota’s roster could be ripe for an upstart UDFA to emerge at wide receiver. The current WR5, Myles Price, is a kick and punt returner and was hardly used on offense as a rookie last year. That could bode well for Davis or one of his undrafted peers.

The next step in the Vikings’ offseason is organized team activities (OTAs), which kick off in six days.

Dustin Baker is a novelist and political scientist. His second novel, The Invaders , is out now. So is … More about Dustin Baker