3 Surprising Vikings Who Will Be Cut at the 53-Man Roster Deadline

The Minnesota Vikings had a preseason to forget about. They scored a total of 40 points across three losses and were unable to find any kind of rhythm on either side of the football. The front office has to keep looking ahead, though, and focus on making the right decisions at the 53-man roster deadline, which is set for Tuesday, Aug. 30 at 4 p.m. ET.

Outside of the expected undrafted rookies and unproven free agent signings, there are always a few surprising roster cuts. Usually, it's players with NFL experience that don't fit in the future of the team anymore. Here's a look at three Vikings that won't be on the team when the regular season kicks off.

Minnesota Vikings Roster

1. Sean Mannion, QB

The Vikings' unexpected trade for quarterback Nick Mullens shook up the quarterback room in a big way. Trading a conditional draft pick to stash an experienced pro on the practice squad doesn't make sense. Keeping Mullens as a the active backup to starter Kirk Cousins on game day does, though. That leaves veteran Sean Mannion and second-year pro Kellen Mond on the outside looking in. Neither one impressed during the preseason as Mannion failed to throw a single touchdown and Mond was responsible for two interceptions. Although, Mond's youth and upside makes him the rightful choice if Minnesota opts to keep three QBs for some reason.

2. Oli Udoh, T

Oli Udoh started 16 games for the Vikings last year and allowed only 1 sack across 1,075 snaps. It was the fact that he drew 16 penalties that frustrated the heck out of the coaching staff. Udoh struggled to show improvement during training camp this offseason and didn't make up for it in any of the preseason games. Meanwhile, reserve options like Blake Brandel, Jesse Davis, Chris Reed and Austin Schlottmann had no trouble showcasing why they deserve a spot on the team. Udoh lines up as a the perfect practice squad player at 25 years of age and would be right back on the team if an injury was to occur.

3. Myles Dorn, S

There's no denying that Myles Dorn did everything he could to stick out against the Denver Broncos in Minnesota's final preseason game. He was flying all over the field and made six tackles by the night's end. It was Dorn's pass breakup that helped the Vikings force an interception, too. The only problem is there may not be a spot at the safety position up for grabs right now. Harrison Smith, Cam Bynum and Lewis Cine seem to be Week 1 roster locks. Josh Metellus is the only player Dorn could realistically beat out. However, Metellus is a special teams ace and has appeared in over 60% of those snaps in each of the last two seasons. That gives him the clear upper hand here.

Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.