Vikings sign two players, waive two with injury designations

Taimani joined the Vikings as an undrafted rookie in 2024 after a six-year college career at Washington and Oregon. The nose tackle impressed in his first preseason and made Minnesota’s initial 53-man roster. He played 70 defensive snaps in the regular season, all coming in the first seven weeks.

Since then, Taimani hasn’t taken hold of his roster spot. He regressed in last year’s preseason and didn’t make the 53. He did appear in two games — Week 14 and Week 18 — but really struggled to make an impact in his snaps. Taimani hasn’t been great in this year’s preseason either. He played 13 snaps in Saturday’s game, which suggests he picked up an injury during that contest.

Chappell, a UDFA from Texas A&M, did not play in the most recent game. He saw nine snaps in the preseason opener.

Harris, 30, was on the Vikings’ practice squad last season after initially signing late in the 2024 campaign. The 6’5″ defensive lineman is still hanging around after signing with the Bears as a 2019 UDFA out of D-II Lindenwood University. He landed with the Broncos on waivers as a rookie and remained with Denver through the 2023 season.

Harris played over 500 defensive snaps for the Broncos in ’23. He has since had stints with the Dolphins, Panthers, and Vikings. It’s hard to see a path for him to make the 53-man roster this late in the process, but he knows Brian Flores’ defense and could be a candidate for the practice squad.

Lauter signed with the Raiders as an undrafted rookie out of Boise State this year. The 6’3″, 25-year-old tight end was most recently with the Titans. He had over 600 receiving yards and seven touchdowns in 2024 for Boise State.

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