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It’s never too late for a reunion.
Following backup quarterback Sean Mannion’s placement on the COVID-19 reserve list, the Minnesota Vikings re-signed quarterback Kyle Sloter on Tuesday.
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Mannion has officially been ruled out of Sunday’s primetime matchup with the Green Bay Packers, leaving the Vikings with a quarterback duel to be the primary backup between Sloter and third-round rookie Kellen Mond.
Sloter, signed to the Vikings’ active roster for the first time after spending three seasons with the team, has a chance to play on Sunday.
The Vikings also signed tackle Rick Leonard to the practice squad and terminated their contracts with practice-squad tight end Brandon Dillon and wide receiver Damion Ratley.
Preseason Hero
After going undrafted out of Northern Colorado, Sloter was picked up by the Denver Broncos. That preseason, Sloter completed 31 of 43 passes for 413 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 125.4, the highest of any rookie quarterback.
Despite his success, Sloter was released by the Broncos at the end of the 2017 preseason — a move the Broncos hoped would go unnoticed with the prospect of adding Sloter to the practice squad if he cleared waivers.
Instead, the Vikings outbid eight other teams and added Sloter off waivers. Sloter dazzled Vikings fans during his tenure in Minnesota, yet the Vikings never gave him a real chance to be Cousins’ understudy on the active roster.
At 6-foot-4, 211 pounds, Sloter shined in the 2018 and 2019 preseason and put together a perfect 158.3 passer rating against the Arizona Cardinals in August 2019. After that performance, he led all NFC quarterbacks with a 146.9 passer rating before he entered his first start of the 2019 preseason against the Buffalo Bills.
Sloter completed 16 of 24 passes for 163 yards, a touchdown and an interception against the Bills in his final game with the Vikings. He completed a gaudy 76 percent of his passes for four TDs and one interception in 2019 (yes, against lesser competition), compiling a 120.0 passer rating and never giving up a sack.
The Vikings waived Sloter after the 2019 preseason, opting instead to go with Jake Browning as their third-string quarterback.
Sloter has had brief stints Arizona Cardinals and Detroit Lions in the 2019-20 season and was most recently with the Las Vegas Raiders before being released on October 13. He has yet to play a single regular-season snap in the NFL.
Through three preseasons between the Broncos and the Vikings, Sloter completed 111 of 150 passes (74 percent) for 1,222 yards, 11 touchdowns and one interception.
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Doubts Surrounding Mond
By this point in the regular season, the Vikings had hoped Mond would be ready to back up Cousins. Minnesota generally has carried only two quarterbacks on their active roster throughout Cousins’ tenure. This season, the Vikings have rostered three QBs in Cousins, Mannion and Mond, to allow Mond more practice reps with the 53-man roster.
However, with Mannion out of the fold, Mond may not be ready to back up Cousins.
Mond’s knowledge of the playbook will likely be more thorough than Sloter’s this week, which could present a difficult decision if Cousins were to exit the game.
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