In a surprising turn of events, Minnesota Vikings decided to release guard Pat Elflein. The move was made on Saturday, just one day after the 26-year-old player was activated off injured reserve.
Elflein entered the season as Vikings’ starting right guard but managed to play only in the season opener before landing on IR with a thumb injury. This turns out to be his last action in Vikings’ jersey as he’ll now probably headed somewhere else.
Asked about the move, Vikings’ head coach Mike Zimmer said that Elflein’s release was based on their roster assessment.
“We just felt like we had some better options,” said Zimmer.
Vikings had high hopes for Pat Elflein when they drafted him in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He played center in his first two years before being moved to left guard in 2019 when the franchise drafted Garrett Bradbury. This season, the Vikings moved Elflein again, as they wanted to give Dakota Dozier a chance at LG.
After Elflein landed on IR, Minnesota first lined Dru Samia at right guard before giving a chance to this year’s second-round pick Ezra Cleveland at the position. Cleveland, who never played guard before, did a pretty good job, which ultimately prompted the Vikings to stick with him and say goodbye to Elflein.
