We have over five weeks until the Minnesota Vikings convene in Eagan for 2024 Training Camp, which means we have a lot of time to pretend we care about other sports while we wait for football to start again.
But every once in a while, we will get a little taste to help feed our addiction, which happened on Monday night when news broke per multiple NFL media outlets that the Vikings are signing 25-year-old former Oklahoma Sooner, turned United Football League star, Jalen Redmond.
Minnesota Vikings sign UFL DT Jalen Redmond
In just four games with the Arlington Renegades last season, Redmond piled up 4.5 sacks (as an interior defensive lineman). That was good for 2nd on the team. Most of his defensive teammates played 10 games. He also posted a rather ridiculous 90.3 defensive grade at PFF (89.2 pass rush grade).
These clips from the Renegades’ game vs the St. Louis Battlehawks shows you just about everything you need to know about how dominant Redmond was during his short stint with Arlington this UFL season.
This is a sneaky good pickup for the Minnesota Vikings. Maybe Jalen Redmond ends up making it out of camp and, god please, contributing in 2024 and beyond. Maybe he joins Joe Kapp or Bud Grant, both of whom made their names in the CFL before landing in Minneapolis.
It’s unlikely this is the only headlines the Vikings make between now and training camp. While it’s unlikely a Christian Darrisaw contract extension happens for another year and we all hope they don’t add to their league-leading arrest total since 2000, but we could see Cam Bynum get a new contract prior to camp, among some others.
Until then, we’ll all just go back to our offseason lives… I guess.
