The hardest roster cuts are not always about who played poorly.
Sometimes, a player has a strong camp, produces in the preseason and still finds himself without a locker because another position carries more numbers, more draft investment or more special-teams certainty. The Vikings are approaching that part of the calendar now.
Minnesota has several defenders who have done enough to make a credible 53-man roster case. The problem is that the team cannot keep everyone. At linebacker, cornerback and defensive line, the numbers may matter more than the individual evaluation.
These three Vikings could be on the wrong side of that equation.
Jacob Roberts
After going undrafted, Jacob Roberts gained professional experience in the CFL before the Vikings gave him a shot this offseason. His issue is simple math: The Vikings have just 53 roster spots, and only a fraction of them will be filled by linebackers.
Blake Cashman and Eric Wilson are set as starters and will be on the team just like second-round rookie Jake Golday. That much is sure. Then, the Vikings also employ Ivan Pace Jr., another linebacker without draft pedigree.
Unlike Roberts, however, he has three seasons of defensive and special teams work under his belt and Matt Daniels, Minnesota’s special teams coordinator, has praised him over the last few weeks.
Roberts has been flying around in the preseason and surely looks like someone who belongs on a 53-man roster, but the numbers might not work out. He’s Minnesota’s second-ranked defender by PFF grade, with excellent marks in coverage and against the run.
Da’Veawn Armstead
Armstead has quietly made a case for himself. The undrafted rookie has looked comfortable in preseason action, playing with enough urgency and physicality to suggest he belongs somewhere in the league.
Unfortunately for him, Minnesota’s cornerback room is not offering many clean paths. Byron Murphy Jr. and Isaiah Rodgers are entrenched, while James Pierre brings veteran experience and special-teams value. Chuck Demmings has also had too strong a summer to ignore, turning a camp breakout into a legitimate role on the depth chart.
That could leave Armstead competing for one final spot in a room where the Vikings may prefer to keep an extra safety, linebacker or defensive lineman. In recent years, Brian Flores has been confident with just four cornerbacks on the roster. Armstead has done enough to earn a longer look, but a strong preseason does not guarantee a spot when the established corners ahead of him have clearer game-day roles.
Armstead feels like exactly the type of young player a team would want to retain on its practice squad.
Isaiahh Loudermilk
Loudermilk’s case is different. He is not a developmental prospect trying to survive on potential. He is a veteran lineman who has looked capable of helping a defensive front that will need bodies throughout a long season.
The Vikings have spent much of the offseason getting younger and bigger up front. Caleb Banks and Domonique Orange arrived as draft picks, Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins offers position flexibility, and holdovers Jalen Redmond, Levi Drake Rodriguez and Elijah Williams have all made cases for snaps. That is a lot of competition for a limited number of defensive-line jobs.
Loudermilk has still given the Vikings reasons to keep him. He has flashed as a pass rusher in camp, has looked the part in the preseason, and he brings the kind of professional experience that can matter when injuries inevitably test a front.
But the roster decision may come down to upside versus certainty. Minnesota could decide it needs to protect its young draft investments and retain players whose roles extend across multiple fronts. If that happens, Loudermilk could lose a job not because he failed to play well, but because the Vikings simply have too many viable defensive linemen.
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