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Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell looks on before facing the Detroit Lions.
The Minnesota Vikings are shaking up their roster ahead of their Wild Card matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, re-signing veteran Brett Rypien. Sam Darnold will still be QB1 with Daniel Jones and Nick Mullens in some order behind him.
Rypien is joining the Vikings’ practice squad.
“The #Vikings have signed QB Brett Rypien to the practice squad,” the team announced in a post on X on January 9.
The Vikings released Rypien on January 7 to make room for Jones on the 53-man roster. The former initially joined the team in August, having spent training camp and the preseason with the Vikings’ NFC North rival Chicago Bears.
An undrafted free agent out of Boise State in 2019, Rypien got his NFL start with the Denver Broncos. Rypien, whose uncle is former Super Bowl champion QB Mark Rypien, spent four seasons in Denver before moving on to the Rams in free agency in 2023.
He bounced around between the Rams, Seattle Seahawks, and New York Jets during the 2023 season and joined the Bears during the 2024 offseason.
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GettyBrett Rypien #19 of the Minnesota Vikings warms up against the Seattle Seahawks.
This is a bit of a full-circle occurrence for Rypien. The Bears were the subjects of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” during training camp, and one episode featured a segment on Rypien’s decision to join the Vikings over the Bears practice squad after getting cut at the roster deadline.
“This team is gonna do special things this year,” Rypien said during the episode in August 2024. “There’s a lot of special people in that building.”
Rypien said he chose an active roster spot over one on the practice squad in Chicago.
Fortunately for Rypien, he is on a playoff team rather than the Bears failed to make it.
The Vikings cut 2023 fifth-round pick Jaren Hall to sign Rypien. Hall signed with the Seahawks’ practice squad in September and was signed to their active roster in December after receiving two previous elevations.
Players can be called up three times before they must be signed to the active roster to play for a club.
Rypien rejoins Nick Mullens and J.J. McCarthy as well in the Vikings QB room.
He has completed 58.3% of his passes for 950 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions in his career and has a 2-2 record as a starter. His last start came in Week 9 of the 2023 season with the Rams.
He was on a $1.1 million contract with the Vikings before he was cut. Rypien has earned $4.8 million in his career, per Over The Cap.
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Rypien is not the only addition the Vikings made. They also added offensive line help, though with an eye toward the future.
“Trevor Reid has been signed to a Reserve/Future free agent contract,” the Vikings’ post said.
Reid is a 6-foot-5, 300-plus-pound lineman who has spent time with the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles. He has never played in a game, though. That could be the context for a future/reserve deal rather than one on the practice squad.
The Vikings will have plenty of other roster decisions to make in the offseason. Their interior offensive line will need to be addressed.
Reid has been a tackle at the NFL level, though.
