EAGAN, Minn. — The Vikings wanted to add experience to their quarterbacks room and did so by signing Brett Rypien Thursday, but they also want to continue the development of Jaren Hall.
To make room for Rypien, who is entering his sixth NFL season, as the team's third quarterback on the 53-man roster, Minnesota waived Hall, a second-year pro who had made the initial 53 with starter Sam Darnold and veteran backup Nick Mullens.
Within about two hours of announcing Thursday's moves, General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Head Coach Kevin O'Connell participated in previously scheduled media sessions and explained their plan, which includes trying to sign Hall to Minnesota's practice squad — if he clears waivers.
"Jaren has done a great job for us. Obviously, he had really improved over the preseason," Adofo-Mensah said. "We talk, and I use that 'development' word a lot. And with quarterbacks, you don't want to throw these guys in too early. And I think with him, we just want more time to where we're going to.
"I've learned from last season that you're either one snap away or one snap from being one snap away," Adofo-Mensah added. "We just wanted to be in a position where we felt, you know, adding Brett to the room feels good. We feel good about that decision, but also giving us more time to pour into Jaren and work with him if he so chooses to do that."
View photos of the Vikings 53-man roster as of January 14, 2024.
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3 WR Jordan Addison
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3 WR Jordan Addison

RB Cam Akers

RB Cam Akers

6 LB Brian Asamoah II
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6 LB Brian Asamoah II

56 C Garrett Bradbury

56 C Garrett Bradbury

64 G Blake Brandel
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64 G Blake Brandel

90 DL Jonathan Bullard

90 DL Jonathan Bullard

24 S Camryn Bynum

24 S Camryn Bynum

51 LB Blake Cashman

51 LB Blake Cashman

32 RB Ty Chandler
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32 RB Ty Chandler

14 QB Sam Darnold

QB Sam Darnold

42 LS Andrew DePaola

42 LS Andrew DePaola

69 C/G Dan Feeney

69 C Dan Feeney

2 CB Stephon Gilmore

2 CB Stephon Gilmore

58 OLB Jonathan Greenard
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58 OLB Jonathan Greenard

1 CB Shaq Griffin

1 CB Shaq Griffin

54 LB Kamu Grugier-Hill

54 LB Kamu Grugier-Hill

30 FB C.J. Ham

30 FB C.J. Ham

87 TE TJ Hockenson

87 TE T.J. Hockenson

67 G Ed Ingram

67 G Ed Ingram

26 S Theo Jackson

26 S Theo Jackson

18 WR Justin Jefferson
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18 WR Justin Jefferson

33 RB Aaron Jones Sr.
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33 RB Aaron Jones

13 QB Daniel Jones
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13 QB Daniel Jones

91 OLB Pat Jones II

91 OLB Pat Jones II

65 OL Michael Jurgens

65 G Michael Jurgens

29 CB Dwight McGlothern
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29 CB Dwight McGlothern

44 S Josh Metellus

44 S Joshua Metellus

23 CB Fabian Moreau

23 CB Fabian Moreau

12 QB Nick Mullens

12 QB Nick Mullens

86 TE Johnny Mundt

86 TE Johnny Mundt

7 CB Byron Murphy

7 CB Byron Murphy Jr.

83 WR Jalen Nailor
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83 WR Jalen Nailor

75 T Brian O'Neill

75 T Brian O'Neill

84 TE Josh Oliver
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84 TE Josh Oliver

0 LB Ivan Pace Jr.

0 LB Ivan Pace Jr.

57 DL Harrison Phillips
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97 DL Harrison Phillips

4 WR Brandon Powell
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4 WR Brandon Powell

76 T David Quessenberry

76 T David Quessenberry

61 DL Jalen Redmond
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61 DL Jalen Redmond

16 K Will Reichard

16 K Will Reichard

98 OLB Bo Richter
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98 OLB Bo Richter

66 G Dalton Risner

66 G Dalton Risner

74 T Cam Robinson

74 T Cam Robinson

50 DL Levi Drake Rodriguez

DL Levi Drake Rodriguez

78 T Walter Rouse

78 T Walter Rouse

11 WR Trent Sherfield Sr.

11 WR Trent Sherfield Sr.

22 S Harrison Smith

22 S Harrison Smith

99 DL Jerry Tillery

99 DL Jerry Tillery

15 OLB Dallas Turner

15 OLB Dallas Turner

43 OLB Andrew Van Ginkel

43 OLB Andrew Van Ginkel

20 S Jay Ward

20 S Jay Ward

52 OLB Jihad Ward

52 OLB Jihad Ward
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17 P Ryan Wright
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17 P Ryan Wright
In 2023, the Vikings started four quarterbacks for the first time within one season in franchise history.
The dominoes began falling when Kirk Cousins suffered a torn Achilles in Week 8 at Green Bay. Mullens was rehabbing an injury at the time, so Hall made his regular-season debut in relief at Lambeau Field in a 24-10 victory.
Minnesota scrambled to trade for Joshua Dobbs two days after Cousins' injury and just before the NFL's trade deadline.
The Vikings prepped Hall to make his first start the following week at Atlanta, and he opened the game well before suffering a concussion. Dobbs entered that game and led an improbable comeback drive at the end of the game.
Dobbs started the next four games, a win against the Saints, a loss at the Broncos, a loss against the Bears and a 3-0 win at the Raiders in which Mullens came off the bench to lead the game's only scoring drive.
Mullens started the following week at Cincinnati and played well, but the Bengals rallied to an overtime win. He also played the entire contest the next week against Detroit. O'Connell returned to Hall as the starter in Week 17 against Green Bay, but Mullens finished that game and started in Week 18 at Detroit.
O'Connell pointed to Rypien's familiarity with similar offenses, including time spent last season with the Los Angeles Rams, as well as what he showed during the 2024 preseason with the Bears.
Rypien completed 24 of 34 passes for 335 yards with three touchdowns and a passer rating of 131.4 for Chicago.
"Brett has some exposure to, you know, different variations of our system that will give him a fast-track timeline," O'Connell said. "And just knowing where he's at mentally, the type of preseason he had, it gives us a little bit more of a short-term kind of foundational plan for a week from Sunday versus what might be in Jaren Hall's best interest for what's best for his career.
Hall, a fifth-round pick in 2023, finished his second NFL preseason having completed 28 of 46 passes for 339 yards with four touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 112.5.
"I fully believe in Jaren Hall's future," O'Connell said. "I believe that we brought Jaren here for a long-term process that, quite honestly, you guys have heard me talk about quarterback journeys a lot. That timeline got sped up when we went through the numbers at the position we did a year ago.
"And all Jaren has done, you know, since that is do all the right things, improve. I thought he was, you know, showing a lot of those things in the preseason action," O'Connell added. "That move was really indicative of knowing what we went through last year, having the opportunity to have a couple veteran guys behind Sam that give us an opportunity, with comfort in the system."