Vikings Cut ‘Ace’ for Towering Former Cowboys Draft Pick With Local Ties
Posted October 1, 2025
The Minnesota Vikings have shuffled their roster ahead of their Week 5 international tilt against the Cleveland Browns, adding offensive lineman Matt Waletzko. However, it cost them a versatile veteran player they hold in high regard.
Navigating several injuries along their offensive line, the Vikings have tabbed the former Dallas Cowboys draft pick, Waletzko. He is a Cold Spring, Minnesota native.
He joins the Vikings’ practice squad, forcing a veteran’s exit.
Vikings Add Former Cowboys Draft Pick Matt Waletzko
GettyMatt Waletzko #79 of the Dallas Cowboys pass protects against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Waletzko joins a Vikings squad that is dealing with injury concerns at center with Ryan Kelly, which may be long-term, left guard, and right tackle. The latter is most pertinent to the team’s latest move.
Waletzko was the No. 155 overall pick by the Cowboys in 2022.
“The #Vikings have signed T Matt Waletzko to the practice squad and released WR Tim Jones from the practice squad,” the Vikings announced in a post on X on September 30.
Vikings starting right tackle Brian O’Neill is sidelined with a sprained MCL.
“The MRI has confirmed that #Vikings RT Brian O’Neill sprained his MCL on Sunday, taking him off the field,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on X on September 30. “He’s week-to-week, but no surgery is required.”
Waletzko is towering, listed at 6-foot-8 and 305 pounds. He has played in 11 regular-season games across his three years in the NFL. He has yet to start a game.
As a member of the practice squad, Waletzko is merely a depth addition to the Vikings’ roster.
Tim Jones Getting Yo-Yo’ed by Vikings
GettyJ.J. McCarthy #9 and Tim Jones #14 of the Minnesota Vikings react while playing against the Chicago Bears.
Waletzko pushed Jones off the roster, marking less than one week since the Vikings’ last transaction involving the former Jacksonville Jaguars undrafted free agent.
Jones, a special teams “ace,” signed with the Vikings in March, but was sent to the practice squad at the end of the preseason. He was elevated to the active roster earlier in September. The Vikings cut Jones on September 23, and then added him back to the practice squad the next day.
The 27-year-old playmaker saw action in two games for the Vikings this regular season.
His release is a blow to their special teams units, where he logged 25 of his 31 snaps this season, per Pro Football Reference.
With a receiver room that features Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Adam Thielen, Jalen Nailor, rookie third-round pick Tai Felton, and 2025 undrafted free agent Myles Price, Jones was a luxury on the Vikings’ roster.
Vikings Facing Uncertainty on Offense
GettyMinnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell looks on against the Chicago Bears.
The injuries to Kelly, O’Neill, and LG Donovan Jackson are just the start of the issues for the Vikings and head coach Kevin O’COnnell, and why Waletzko is with the franchise. They are also without 2024 sixth-round selection and offensive tackle Walter Rouse.
Then there are their questions at quarterback, where Carson Wentz has been efficient, but the Vikings followed an impressive debut for the veteran with a difficult loss.
Wentz’s performances as QB1 could significantly impact how the Vikings handle J.J. McCarthy.
McCarthy is sidelined with an ankle injury, but he is expected to run the Vikings’ scout team this week in London ahead of facing the Browns. The Vikings were moved enough by O’Neill’s injury to add Waletzko. Perhaps they will take even more precautions with McCarthy amid their plight.
After the Browns, the Vikings go on bye. That could allow their injured players to get healthy. Their Week 7 matchup is against the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Shedeur Sanders Destroyed for ‘Playing God’ After Lamar Jackson Injury
Shedeur Sanders is in the process of watching the Cleveland Browns elevate a rookie quarterback into the starting role, but it isn’t him.
Dillon Gabriel will take the reins of Cleveland’s anemic offense heading into the team’s Week 5 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings in London on Sunday, October 5, per a report from CBS. Meanwhile, Sanders might also be starting the first game of his career next weekend had he not shunned the Baltimore Ravens when they reached out to his camp in April and expressed interest in drafting the QB in the fifth round.
NFL commentator and personality Emmanuel Acho was an outspoken critic of Sanders in the wake of the news that he’d spurned the Ravens. Acho took a victory lap on his position Tuesday, September 30, after the Baltimore Sun reported that the team will be without two-time MVP and starting quarterback Lamar Jackson for up to three weeks due to a hamstring strain.
Lamar Jackson is rumored to be out 2-3 weeks, and Shedeur Sanders should be starting for the Baltimore Ravens this week. Not sitting behind Joe freaking Flacco.
But y’all cussed me out when I said, you know what, nevermind- I’m annoyed.🙄
“Shedeur Sanders turned down going to Baltimore. Everybody said, ‘Acho, that’s a backup mentality. Acho, you talking like a backup.’ I said, ‘No, you can’t play god,'” Acho said. If Shedeur Sanders was a backup with the Baltimore Ravens right now, he’d probably be starting this week — in Baltimore, with Derrick Henry behind him, with Zay Flowers out wide, with DeAndre Hopkins out wide. Instead, Kevin Stefanski is still oscillating between starting [Joe] Flacco or Dillon Gabriel. This is why I said you can’t play god, because you never know what’s going to happen.”
Lamar Jackson’s Injury History Renders Ravens Better QB Destination Than Shedeur Sanders Realized
GettyBaltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Sanders’ reasoning for telling the Ravens he wasn’t interested in coming to their organization boiled down to a math problem. Jackson is a two-time MVP with a long career yet ahead of him, and Sanders’ desire to elevate into a starting role with relative immediacy wasn’t timeline compatible with the calculus of Jackson’s career trajectory.
Critics of Sanders’ viewpoint said he undervalued organizational character and structure, and ultimately shortchanged his own development by not accepting a backup role with the Ravens for two or three years.
And there is also Jackson’s injury history to consider. He missed five games in 2021 and 2022. Tyler Huntley stepped in both times and actually earned a Pro-Bowl nod in 2022 for his work in Jackson’s stead. That, coupled with the superior skill-position talent in Baltimore compared to Cleveland, and Acho’s point stands up.
In fairness to Sanders, there is no way he was going to win the job from Jackson with two or three weeks of starting rope early in his rookie season. But had he earned the chance to play, he’d be getting the experience and exposure he both desires and needs if he wants to prove himself a viable starter for any of the league’s 32 teams.
Shedeur Sanders May Not Be Starting Week 5 Even if He Were With Ravens Instead of Browns
GettyBaltimore Ravens quarterback Cooper Rush.
Baltimore also paid Cooper Rush north of $6 million to leave the Dallas Cowboys and back up Jackson for the next two years, so there is no guarantee Sanders would get the nod this week if he were in the Ravens QB room.
Rush has played 40 career games, he is 9-5 as a starter and has thrown for 3,515 yards, 20 TDs and 10 INTs across his eight-year career. But whether or not Baltimore would choose to start Sanders over Rush if they had the option, Sanders clearly believes he should already be running an NFL team.
“I know if you see the quarterback play in the league right now, I know I’m capable of doing better than that,” Sanders said. “[It’s] obvious a lot of teams would be playing me, but that’s not in God’s plan right now.”
