Vikings Release Veteran QB Entering Bye Week

With three healthy quarterbacks expected to return after a Week 13 bye, the Minnesota Vikings released veteran Sean Mannion on Tuesday, November 28, per the NFL transaction wire.

Mannion was signed to the practice squad after backup Nick Mullens landed on the injured reserve on October 11. He was elevated to the active roster on November 11 to back up Josh Dobbs for the team’s Week 12 win over the New Orleans Saints. Rookie Jaren Hall was in concussion protocol that week, while Mullens was still on the injured reserve.

Mannion was Kirk Cousins’ primary backup from 2019 to 2021 and made two starts in that span. He lost his job to Mullens, who the Vikings acquired in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders, during the 2022 preseason. He hasn’t thrown a pass in a regular season game since a Week 17 loss to the Green Bay Packers in 2021.

Dobbs, Mullens and Hall will be the team’s quarterback group for the final five games of the regular season with Cousins on the mend from a season-ending Achilles injury on October 29.

The starter moving forward is to be determined after Dobbs threw four interceptions in a 12-10 loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday, November 28. He’s turned the ball over six times in the past two games, resulting in back-to-back losses for the first time since Week 3.

That leaves the Vikings searching for answers at quarterback, entering the bye week with a 6-6 record and a 58% chance of making the playoffs (according to ESPN).

Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell Addresses Decision on Benching Josh Dobbs

Following Monday’s loss to the Bears, head coach Kevin O’Connell addressed the possibility of benching Dobbs and admitted he considered putting in Mullens during the game.

“It started to get to a point in the game where I was just trying to think almost [about] what would give us a spark,” O’Connell said, adding that he would “take a look at everything” when considering a change at quarterback during the bye week, per the Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling.

“We’re going to take a look, really evaluate the inventory of plays we now have of Josh,” O’Connell added in a postgame news conference. “We got healthy, got Jaren [Hall] back available to us, and Nick Mullens is available to us as well.”

O’Connell commended Dobbs for his persistence and leading the offense on a touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter, although it proved to not be enough as Chicago made a stop and kicked a game-clinching field goal.

“I still thought Josh battled. No flinch. Just kept playing and competing to try to help us win. I really credit him for that. It’s tough to do on a night where you’ve turned the football over with some interceptions here and there just to keep playing. This guy is a competitor,” O’Connell said.

Justin Jefferson Activated Off Injured Reserve

The Vikings offense will get a much-needed boost coming out of the bye week with Justin Jefferson cleared to return to the active roster on Tuesday, November 28.

Jefferson was on the injured reserve list with a hamstring injury for seven weeks before his activation to the 53-man roster.

Wide receiver N’Keal Harry was released to make room for Jefferson on the roster. Harry appeared in nine games, playing 23 offensive snaps, but did not see a single target when on the field.