Vikings shave down final roster as they prepare for season kickoff

NINA MOINI: Well, in the past few recent days, there's been a little bit of a chill in the air in the mornings. Evenings are getting darker a little bit earlier. For many of us, these are the first signs of football season. And the Vikings are making changes to their roster in the gap between the preseason and their opening game, which is already coming up here September 8. And the University of Minnesota Gophers and Minnesota high school teams, they're going to start their seasons in just a couple days.

So joining me now to talk about what to expect are sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson. Thanks for being here, guys.

ERIC NELSON: Hey, Nina. Happy kickoff week.

NINA MOINI: Happy kickoff week. Should we start with some Breaking News in the world of sports and just the world? We got the engagement announced of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. I know you guys are probably following that really closely.

ERIC NELSON: Yeah. I'm surprised you're not in Kansas City.

NINA MOINI: I have a flight down there. No, I'm kidding. Well, that's--

WALLY LONGFELLOW: Clearly at the top of my list.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, yeah. So a lot of attention there for them, and some fun news.

ERIC NELSON: Nina, if Kelce played for the Kansas City Royals, they could have a royal wedding.

NINA MOINI: Oh, I like that. Well--

ERIC NELSON: And he plays for the Chiefs.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, we're going to just focus here on the Vikings. So, Wally, tell me, what's the latest with the Vikes?

WALLY LONGFELLOW: Well, they don't have Travis Kelce, and they don't have Taylor Swift as a fan. How's that for a start?

NINA MOINI: Yeah, disadvantage.

WALLY LONGFELLOW: Yes. But they do have 76 other players. And they're going to need to cut that down to 53--

NINA MOINI: Oh, wow.

WALLY LONGFELLOW: --in about two hours. They've got to get down to 53 players by 3:00 PM this afternoon. They've been busy, moving pieces around the last few days. Of course, [AUDIO OUT] last Friday. Then they traded defensive lineman Harrison Phillips to Philadelphia. Then they traded backup quarterback Sam Howell also to Philadelphia.

And then they go out and sign Carson Wentz to be their backup quarterback. Last night, they trade defensive back Mekhi Blackmon to the Colts. Of course, there's all the rumors that have been flying around that they're going to bring in former Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen. Of course, he's playing for Carolina. And that's going to-- there's going to be a steep cost there if they are going to make a deal of some kind.

But there are other wide receivers out there that they put pressure on today. Once those cuts are made around the NFL, including former [AUDIO OUT] Viking who has struggled in his past couple of years. He hasn't put up the same numbers he did with Minnesota a couple of years ago, so that's a possibility.

The one thing that I think we do know, and this will be confirmed at 3:00 today, is that former Gopher Max Brosmer will be and should be the third string quarterback for the Vikings. And this is after a very good preseason.

And as I mentioned, they got rid of Sam Howell. They cut Brett Rypien, who was their third string quarterback previously. So it looks like he's going to make it.

The only possibility, though, is if they decide that they don't have enough room on the roster, they expose him to waivers, and I don't think they want to lose him. So I think that they're going to hang on to him and make him their third string quarterback. We shall see at 3:00 today. But there's the latest and the greatest.

And now, of course, they don't play for two weeks. They play Monday Night Football on September 8 in Chicago. So a lot of moving pieces between now and then, I'm guessing, with some trades and guys coming in and off of waivers into Minnesota.

NINA MOINI: It is a really busy day. I can see why you weren't as focused on the big royal engagement.

WALLY LONGFELLOW: No.

NINA MOINI: So at the college level here, the Gopher season begins Thursday night already. What are you going to be watching for, Eric?

ERIC NELSON: Well, they play the University of Buffalo, the Bulls.

NINA MOINI: OK.

ERIC NELSON: Not the Bills. And they will kick it off at Huntington Bank Stadium at 7:00 PM Thursday night.

Now, Minnesota is paying the University of Buffalo $1.1 million to come to Dinkytown.

NINA MOINI: Oh.

ERIC NELSON: And this is a common practice in College Football. It's known as a body bag game. A supposedly inferior opponent plays a Power Five school in their stadium. In most cases, they get crushed. They go back to their respective city in a body bag, but they also collect a huge paycheck. And that's what Buffalo's going to get here.

NINA MOINI: That's grim.

ERIC NELSON: But this comes with some warning. It doesn't always work out that way. Bowling Green came to Minneapolis in 2021. The Gophers were favored to win by 31 points. I was at the game.

NINA MOINI: Sure.

ERIC NELSON: However, the Falcons pulled off a stunning 14 to 10 upset on Homecoming, by the way.

NINA MOINI: Wow.

ERIC NELSON: It was a shock and awe defeat for Minnesota. Bowling Green got the paycheck, and did not go back to Ohio in a body bag. Now, hopefully that won't happen for Minnesota. They have a new quarterback. His name is Drake Lindsey. He's 6' 5.

NINA MOINI: Wow.

ERIC NELSON: He's 230. He's a freshman from Arkansas. He's the whole ball of wax. He can throw the ball through a tornado. He's got accuracy. He's got a quick release. He's got all the intangibles scouts love. Now, he just has to do it on the field.

NINA MOINI: Sure.

ERIC NELSON: Minnesota also has a great running back. Darius Taylor. He's out of Detroit. He's a junior. He ran for almost 1,000 yards last season. Scored 10 touchdowns. The Gophers, I think, are looking to take that next step. They better beat Buffalo, though. That's all I got to say. Send them back in a body bag.

NINA MOINI: Yikes. Well, yeah, I guess, you never what's going to happen. But some imagery there, for sure.

So for high school football, Wally, very exciting. Their season starting this week, as well. What teams are you going to be following closely?

WALLY LONGFELLOW: Yeah, and I won't be quite as grim as the grim reaper was talking about the Gophers--

NINA MOINI: The body bags.

WALLY LONGFELLOW: --College Football. Oh, my goodness, I tell you.

So yes, the high school football season does kick off in earnest Thursday and Friday. Games across the state. It used to be just Friday, but then the schools figured out that a lot of people leave for the weekend, and teams were losing players.

NINA MOINI: Oh, sure.

WALLY LONGFELLOW: Because they would go up north for the Labor Day Weekend, so they pushed it back to Thursday. But there still are several who also play on Friday.

The other issue is the lack of referees across the state. So guys are working both Thursday and Friday. Because if they played all the games on Thursday or all the games on Friday, there might not be enough referees to work these games. So they've decided to, over the years now, split the day between Thursday and Friday. So a lot of teams open up on Thursday and several open up on Friday.

As far as teams to watch? Certainly going to be keeping an eye on the defending class 6A Champions. That's Maple Grove. They will open up at Stillwater, and that is a Thursday night game.

Perennial powerhouse Eden Prairie is at home, and they play against Anoka. Now, Anoka is a team that made a run into the State Semifinals last year--

NINA MOINI: Oh.

WALLY LONGFELLOW: --at US Bank Stadium. I'll be keeping an eye on Wayzata and Andover. Andover moving up a class. They've been playing 5A football, so slightly smaller schools, but they're moving up with the big boys this year. And they're moving right into, perhaps, the biggest school in the state to play them.

NINA MOINI: Sure

WALLY LONGFELLOW: They're playing Wayzata on Thursday night. So lots of good things happening and high school football is here. And it should be an interesting start to the season, for sure.

NINA MOINI: I love that. It definitely does feel like fall when you start talking about high school--

WALLY LONGFELLOW: No doubt.

NINA MOINI: --football. Well, Eric, when things couldn't get more grim. We actually have to talk about the Twins now. So don't know if you have any imagery around them. This is one of the sadder spots for you. What's going on with the Twins?

ERIC NELSON: Yeah, they're in Canada. Hopefully, they won't come back in a body bag, but their free fall continued last night. They got battered 10 to 4 by the Toronto Blue Jays.

So Minnesota has now lost three straight games and 11 of 14. And they had their best pitcher going last night Joe Ryan, the All-Star, and he got kicked around. He gave up six runs on seven hits in five innings.

Three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer got the victory for Toronto, and Scherzer is kryptonite to the Twins. In his career against Minnesota, he's 10 and 2 in 19 career starts. So he's had his way with the Twins.

Now, the only bright spot for the Twins was Matt Wallner, who's out of Forest Lake. He slugged a pair of long-taters-- how about that, Nina? Taters.

NINA MOINI: Home runs. Yep.

ERIC NELSON: Those balls were hit so far, they almost landed in Quebec. I mean, they were just monster shots.

Now, the same teams play tonight in Canada. One good news note. The Twins will play in the Field of Dreams game in 2026 against Philadelphia, down in Iowa, Dubuque County, where the movie Field of Dreams was made. That's going to be a blast if you go down to that one.

And also, the schedule just came out for next season. The Twins open up at Baltimore on March 26. The home opener is April 3 against Tampa Bay, so why not bring the team from Florida to Minneapolis in early April and make them pack their Under Armour? That could be a chilly opener.

NINA MOINI: Oh, sure. And we have about 30 seconds left, Eric, but give us the latest on the Lynx. A high note here.

ERIC NELSON: Indeed. Lynx play Thursday night against Seattle. That game is in Minneapolis.

Lynx currently the top team in the WNBA. They've got Napheesa Collier back. She was brilliant Sunday in a win over Indiana, 32 points, 9 rebounds. And if the playoffs were to start today, Minnesota would play Indiana, the eighth seed. But there's still some games to go, so we'll see how it shakes out.

NINA MOINI: All right, Eric and Wally, thanks as always, guys.

BOTH: Thanks, Nina.

NINA MOINI: Those are sports contributors, Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson.