Sports
Vikings Quietly Cut a Player
It’s been a quiet week for the Minnesota Vikings, who entered free agency with few in-house free agents and left the first few days with only two fresh signings. Cornerback James Pierre and quarterback Kyler Murray are the only reinforcements through five days of free agency.
On Friday, the club also said goodbye to a depth player. Interior offensive lineman Zeke Correll was shown the door, according to the NFL transaction wire. Last year’s rookie has had an unfortunate tenure with the franchise.
Correll was not a prominent member of the roster, buried behind several other blockers, but it’s still a strange time to say goodbye to a player, without any roster pressure or financial incentives.
Either way, Correll is now part of Minnesota’s history books and will not compete for a roster spot throughout the summer.
Initially, Correll joined the club last offseason, entering the league as an undrafted rookie out of NC State, where he played his final collegiate season. From 2019 through 2023, he was active at Notre Dame. His college résumé is actually quite extensive.
Correll played over 2,000 snaps at Notre Dame as well as another 824 at NC State, where he was the full-time starting center. After starting his career at guard, he moved to center in 2022. Ironically, that’s exactly the spot the Vikings are looking for a new starter.
Well, it won’t be Correll. Minnesota, meanwhile, moves forward with only one true center on the roster. Last year’s signee and four-time Pro Bowler Ryan Kelly announced his retirement this month. He suffered three concussions in his only season with the franchise and leaves a massive hole in front of presumable QB1 Kyler Murray.
When he was out last year, the Vikings turned to a combination of Blake Brandel and Michael Jurgens.
Jurgens, a 2024 7th-rounder, was the original backup center, but suffered an injury shortly after Kelly and it cost him his spot in the lineup. The Vikings then elevated versatile backup Brandel, who had never played center before.
Outside of some early struggles as a snapper and communication errors, he found his footing and was quite solid, especially for an inexperienced player at the position. Brandel has now played at every single one of the five offensive line spots and his versatility could actually be a reason to keep him as the top alternate rather than handing him the full-time job.
Jurgens played thousands of snaps at center at Wake Forest. Whether the Vikings trust him with the starting gig remains to be seen. Of course, the Vikings could sign another center or wait for the draft to find their new man in the middle of an hopefully healthier line.
Back to Correll. After signing with the Vikings, he was a long shot to make the 53-man roster like all undrafted players, but the practice squad was a realistic goal at a thin position. Remember, Brandel had zero center experience at that time.
In the first preseason game, Correll received his first opportunity to shine, but it turned out to be his last one, too. The blocker suffered a fractured ankle and was quickly ruled out for the season, as he was placed on IR. He lasted 12 snaps.
Now hopefully recovered, he hopes to earn a spot on someone’s 90-man roster to compete for his place in the league throughout the summer. Correll is 25.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.
