On the heels of signing Odell Beckham Jr. on the practice squad last week, the Minnesota Vikings may have felt the urge to add more to their collection of veteran wide receivers, as they brought a few more for a workout on Monday.
The most notable name to come out of the Twin Cities for a workout on Monday was Juju Smith-Schuster, and he was joined by D’Wayne Eskridge and Dayton Wade.
Smith-Schuster is now in his tenth year in the NFL, having been drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round in 2017. He caught his first career touchdown pass against the Vikings in Week 2 of that 2017 season, when the Steelers beat the Vikings in Case Keenum’s first start of the year. After spending his first five NFL seasons with the Steelers, he moved on to play for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2022, then the New England Patriots in 2023, then back in Kansas City for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. He was with the New York Giants, but they released him in August. For his career, he caught 481 passes for 5,624 yards and 33 touchdowns.
Eskridge is a second-round pick of the Seattle Seahawks in 2021 and hasn’t done anything in the NFL. He had two notable stints on injured reserve, one in 2021 for a concussion and one in 2022 for a broken hand. He also served a six-game suspension at the start of the 2023 season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy for an incident stemming from a confrontation with the mother of his son. The Seahawks waived him in August of 2024, and he spent parts of the 2024 and 2025 seasons with the Miami Dolphins.
Wade went undrafted out of Western Kentucky in 2024 and spent parts of the 2024 and 2025 seasons on the Baltimore Ravens’ practice squad. He never appeared in an NFL game.
The Vikings also worked with former North Dakota State quarterback Cam Miller. Miller was selected by the Las Vegas Raiders in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft and was signed to the Raiders’ practice squad by the Miami Dolphins late in the 2025 season. He was waived by the Dolphins this offseason as part of their final cuts. With Max Brosmer moved to the active roster following the JJ McCarthy trade, the Vikings may want a quarterback on the practice squad, so having Miller for a workout makes sense.
The team also lost a player from the practice squad, as running back Audric Estime was signed by the Cleveland Browns. Estime was signed by the team on September 30 but is now headed to the shores of Lake Erie.
So, it’s been a pretty eventful start to the bye week for our favorite squad. We’ll see what the next two weeks hold as the team rests and (hopefully) gets healthy and prepares for the remainder of the 2026 season.