Eagan, Minn. (May 7, 2018) – The Minnesota Vikings announce the following roster moves:
SIGNED
PLAYER POS. EXP. COLLEGE
Chad Beebe...................... WR............... R................... Northern Illinois
Craig James...................... CB............... R.................. Southern Illinois
Johnny Stanton.................. FB............... R.................................. UNLV
Brett Taylor........................ LB............... R................... Western Illinois
WAIVED
PLAYER POS. EXP. COLLEGE
Nick Dooley....................... LS............... R.................... Texas El-Paso
Armanti Foreman.............. WR............... R................................. Texas
Caushaud Lyons................ DT............... 2............................ Tusculum
Kamryn Pettway................. FB............... R................................ Auburn
All four new roster additions join the Vikings after participating in the team's rookie minicamp this past weekend and will join the team's offseason program in the coming weeks. The Vikings roster now stands at 90 players.
Beebe played in 44 games at Northern Illinois and led the team in 2017 with a 14.9 yards per reception average. The Buffalo, New York native totaled 64 receptions for 930 yards and 3 TDs during his collegiate career. He also contributed as a return man and ranks in the top-10 in program history in punt returns (48) and punt return yards (329).
James finished out his college career at Southern Illinois, earning Mountain Valley Football Conference All-Newcomer Team honors in 2016, after two years at the University of Minnesota (2014-15). In 2017, he recorded two interceptions, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery while accumulating 37 total tackles.
Stanton, a quarterback in college, will transition to fullback with the Vikings. The Las Vegas native attended Nebraska out of high school before transferring to Saddleback College and eventually ending his career at UNLV. He earned junior college All-America honors while at Saddleback and helped the team to the California Community College Football Coaches Association State Championship game.
Taylor earned back-to-back All-American honors while finishing his career at Western Illinois and was named Phil Steele's FCS Defensive Player of the Year. He led the Leathernecks with 162 total tackles in 2017 while racking up 13 TFL and 1.5 sacks.
