The Vikings have signed journeyman offensive lineman Christian DiLauro, according to KPRC's Aaron Wilson. He takes the 90-man roster spot previously held by OL Sam Schlueter, a Minnesota native and former Gophers starter who was waived with a non-football illness designation on Wednesday.
So the Vikings have technically signed a former Broncos offensive lineman — just not the one fans have been hoping for. Free agent Dalton Risner visited the team on Tuesday but left without a signing a contract. This move doesn't mean the possibility of Risner joining the Vikings is dead; it just isn't happening right now.
DiLauro, 28, started 38 games in his college career at Illinois. The 6'6" tackle went undrafted in 2018 and has had stints with the Browns, 49ers, Texans, Steelers, Titans, Commanders, and most recently Broncos since then. A practice squad player throughout his career, DiLauro has played a total of 15 regular season snaps in his career, all of them coming on special teams. He was waived by the Broncos this week.
DiLauro is a 1-for-1 replacement for Schlueter as a depth offensive tackle with a chance to compete for a spot on the practice squad.
That's not nearly as exciting as signing Risner, but if nothing is imminent on that front for whatever reason, the Vikings might as well use the roster spot created by waiving Schlueter.
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