The Minnesota Vikings are back in the Kenny Dyson Jr. business.
“The Vikings are adding edge rusher Kenny Dyson to the practice squad, per source,” The Athletic’s Alec Lewis reported on X on September 7. “Really impressed the team late in the preseason. Has some major twitch to him.”
Dyson finished the 2026 preseason with 1.0 sacks and 3 hurries, the latter of which led the Vikings, per Pro Football Focus.
Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores now gets to continue molding Dyson.
Vikings Reunite With Kenny Dyson Jr.
Before he re-signed in Minnesota, Dyson, 25, was a former undrafted free agent who began his career with the Carolina Panthers in 2024. His last NFL action before this preseason with the Vikings came during the 2024 exhibition slate.
Dyson spent the 2026 spring in the United Football League. He recorded 27 total tackles and 4.5 sacks in 10 games for the Houston Gamblers.
He joins a Vikings practice squad that includes recent addition Kyle Van Noy.
Van Noy’s arrival cast some doubts about the idea that Dyson could return. But the latter makes his return. Moreover, it comes just days after news surfaced that Minnesota had released him with an injury settlement.
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The most interesting part of Dyson’s return to the Vikings is that it seems to circumvent the typical timeline and/or process of an injury settlement.
Under normal circumstances, teams negotiate the settlement, which accounts for a certain amount of time, representing their projected timeline for recovery. From there, the player is technically free to sign with any one of the 31 other teams.
However, players are usually prohibited from re-signing with the team that they settled with for an additional length of time.
That length of time–again, typically–is three weeks.
Dyson first signed with the Vikings on August 17. The Vikings initially waived Dyson with an injury designation on August 30 amid their roster cuts at the deadline. He cleared waivers and reverted to the Vikings’ IR and was officially released with a settlement on September 5.
All told, the Vikings signed Dyson, waived him, saw him revert to IR, agreed to an injury settlement, and re-signed him as a member of the practice squad, all in a matter of 20 days.
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