The Minnesota Vikings had a good problem as the 53-man roster cuts approached last weekend: their offense had one too many explosive playmakers for the slots allowed.
Minnesota’s brass, both the front office and coaching staff, deserve commendation for amassing that sort of talent. However, the way the team went about handling the situation created the unfortunate result of running back Zavier Scott landing with the NFC North Division rival Chicago Bears.
–@DWolfsonKSTP on Zavier Scott signing with the Chicago Bears
“If you’re asking me if I’m surprised or not, yeah. I thought he would be back here,” Darren Wolfson of KSTP said on Wednesday, September 2. “Like, I would have told you he would’ve been an elevation Week 1. That I don’t think Demond Clairborne, as of a few days ago, was going to be RB3 for Week 1 even though he is on the 53-man roster.”
Zavier Scott Has Longer Runway as RB3 in Chicago Than Minnesota
The decision to join Chicago rather than return to Minnesota was ultimately Scott’s to make.
And even though Wolfson believes Scott would have been on the active roster and played in Minnesota for at least the first couple weeks of this season, the former Vikings running back clearly felt the Bears were a better move for his career going forward.
“Longterm play, they just see more of an opportunity in Chicago,” Wolfson continued. “And I think his camp just looks at it and says, ‘OK, the Vikings believe wholeheartedly in Claiborne.’ So at best, [Scott] is going to be after Weeks 1 and 2 … he’s going to be RB4, [and] that there’s more chance to be an RB3 in Chicago.”
Kyle Monangai’s Injury May Have Led Bears to Recruit Zavier Scott Away From Vikings
That rationale argues that Minnesota made a miscalculation in its assessment of Scott as a player the team could cut, who would then clear the NFL waiver wire and choose to return to the franchise.
The Vikings kept Claiborne, a sixth-round rookie with an explosive skill set, and also held onto undrafted rookie free agent Dillon Bell in the wide receiver room. Bell has some playmaking upside as a run-after-the-catch wideout and a weapon on gadget plays.
Multiple team insiders predicted that Minnesota would choose to hold onto both Claiborne and Scott, while letting Bell hit the waiver wire. That said, it was never a guarantee that the Vikings could have brought the former Georgia product back, as Bell’s talents may have attracted attention from other teams and landed him on a practice squad elsewhere in the league.
In the end, the Vikings may never have been able to keep all three players: Claiborne, Bell and Scott.
Or, if second-year Bears running back Kyle Monangai wasn’t a question mark for Week 1 with a hyperextended knee, perhaps Chicago would have never offered Scott a spot on its practice squad and a chance to battle Roschon Johnson and Salvon Ahmed for the RB2 spot while Monangai is hurt and a longterm RB3 role once he returns healthy.
Regardless, the Vikings’ loss was the Bears’ gain in the end, which is never what a team wants to see with regards to one of its biggest rivals.
Vikings Make Major Mistake Losing Explosive Playmaker to Bears