With more than five weeks until the Minnesota Vikings gather in Eagan for their 2024 Training Camp, we have plenty of time to feign interest in other sports while waiting for football to resume.
However, occasional updates keep our enthusiasm alive, like the news from Monday night that the Vikings are signing 25-year-old Jalen Redmond, a former Oklahoma Sooner who became a star in the United Football League, as reported by multiple NFL media outlets.
Minnesota Vikings sign UFL DT Jalen Redmond
In just four games with the Arlington Renegades last season, Redmond recorded 4.5 sacks as an interior defensive lineman, ranking second on the team despite most of his teammates playing ten games. He also achieved an impressive 90.3 defensive grade at PFF, including an 89.2 pass rush grade.
Highlights from the Renegades’ game against the St. Louis Battlehawks demonstrate Redmond’s dominance during his brief time with Arlington this UFL season.
Newly signed #Vikings DT Jalen Redmond (#90) was a STUD this game for the UFL this season.
Redmond had 4 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 additional pressures, and assisted on 2 run stops 🔥pic.twitter.com/AAil9BIKFG
— The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) June 18, 2024
This is a shrewd acquisition for the Vikings. Hopefully, Jalen Redmond will make it through training camp and contribute in 2024 and beyond, possibly joining the ranks of Joe Kapp and Bud Grant, who also made names for themselves in other leagues before joining the Vikings.
It’s unlikely this will be the only headline the Vikings make before training camp. While a Christian Darrisaw contract extension might not happen for another year, and everyone hopes the team won’t add to their league-leading arrest total since 2000, there is a possibility that Cam Bynum and others could get new contracts before camp begins.
Until then, we’ll all just return to our offseason routines.