The Minnesota Vikings were among six teams vying for cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. in free agency. When Samuel abruptly signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday, the Vikings pivoted quickly.
Samuel, who was scheduled to visit the Chicago Bears on Tuesday, preemptively signed with the Steelers’ practice squad on November 11.
Shortly after the newsbreak of Samuel’s signing, the Vikings made their own move, signing former New York Jets and Carolina Panthers cornerback Shemar Bartholomew.
Shemar Bartholomew Was The NFL’s Hottest Commodity at 2024 Roster Cutdown Day
Undrafted in 2024, Bartholomew signed with the Jets and competed through the last days of training camp.
He was buried in a secondary that included cornerbacks Sauce Gardner, D.J. Reed and Michael Carter II and ranked No. 1 by Pro Football Focus that preseason.
When roster cutdown day came, Bartholomew was released, but proved to be the type of player many teams don’t want to part ways with.
Four teams put in waiver claims for him, the most of any player on waivers. The Panthers had the No. 1 waiver priority and landed Bartholomew, whose impressive rookie preseason with the Jets made him the top target on waivers.
According to Pro Football Focus, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound corner allowed zero receiving yards over nine targets and a passer rating of just 39.6 when targeted during the preseason for an 85.2 coverage grade.
The Vikings cornerback room is thin with Jeff Okudah on injured reserve after he landed in concussion protocol for the second time this season. Fabian Moreau has filled in for Okudah as the No. 3 corner in the meantime, while Dwight McGlothern is the last cornerback on the 53-man roster.
Bartholomew likely won’t compete for Moreau’s role anytime soon, but he could find himself activated to the 53-man roster and play some special teams.
Asante Samuel Jr. Sweepstakes May Not Be Over
GettyFormer Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Asante Samuel Jr.’s vist with the Vikings is purely medical with no contract in sight.
Samuel’s signing before he visited the Bears was a surprise.
Samuel, coming back from a neck injury, was cleared for football activities last week and began visiting teams on a purely medical basis.
“Asante Samuel Jr, the reason a player like that has a five or six-team tour setup is because medical. He needs to go in and get physicals in different places. Without getting too deep into the weeds on the nature of the injury, it is something very serious and very scary that he is coming back from,” Pelissero said on “The Power Trip” morning show.
“He had a surgery, and this is not an injury that a lot of doctors thought a surgery was going to be able to fully fix. So it’s not just a matter of his doctors clearing him, it’s a team medical staff clearing him. And when you’re talking about a neck issue, a spine issue, those are really sensitive kinds of topics.”
Samuel visited the Green Bay Packers, Vikings, Panthers last week and the San Francisco 49ers and Bears this week, despite what seemed to be his fate — signing with the Steelers.
While Samuel’s visits elsewhere were to give those teams information and a level of confidence understanding his health, the Steelers team neurosurgeon is the doctor who administered Samuel’s spinal fusion back in April, according to Ian Rapoport.
Teams can still sign Samuel off the Steelers’ practice squad by offering him a spot on their 53-man roster, but it appears in the meantime that the Vikings are out on the former second-round pick.
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