With the Minnesota Vikings in a slightly precarious position at the tight end spot, they’ve taken a step to attempt to remedy that by adding one to their active roster.
On Thursday, the Vikings signed tight end Hale Hentges off of the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad.
Hentges is in his second NFL season, having come into the league as an undrafted free agent from the University of Alabama in 2019. He signed with the Indianapolis Colts and made their initial 53-man roster, but was then waived and brought back to the practice squad. He was then poached from Indianapolis by the artists currently known as the Washington Football Team in October of that year.
While with the Red. . .er, Football Team. . .in 2019, Hentges was eventually elevated to the 53-man roster, and wound up catching eight passes for 103 yards and one touchdown. This past year, the Football Team waived him and signed him back to their practice squad, but then waived him again a couple of weeks into the season. He then wound up back with Indianapolis but was signed today by Minnesota
During his time at Alabama, Hentges had just 15 receptions, but six of them went for touchdowns. He was known more for his blocking when he was with the Crimson Tide than for his pass-catching prowess.
It remains to be seen just how much Hentges will play for the Vikings when they take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Vikings currently have just one tight end that’s completely healthy, so he could start seeing action early and often for Mike Zimmer’s team.
