On a day when we received some good news about T.J. Hockenson’s recovery from last season’s knee injury, we discovered that the Minnesota Vikings had added more tight end depth.
According to Adam Schefter and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, the Vikings have signed tight end Robert Tonyan. No matching roster change has been made, and the details of the agreement have not yet been divulged.
If Tonyan signs with the Vikings, he will have officially played for every NFC North team. After going undrafted out of Indiana State in 2017, he signed with the Detroit Lions and spent most of the season on their practice squad. The Green Bay Packers then signed him off their practice squad for the remaining four games of the season, and he stayed with the team until 2022. And, as shown in the photo above, he played for the Chicago Bears this season.
Tonyan’s one season in Chicago was somewhat disappointing, as he caught only 11 catches for 122 yards while participating in all 17 games for the Bears. During his five seasons with Green Bay, he caught 137 receptions for 1,437 yards and 17 touchdowns, including an 11-touchdown performance in 2020.
While there is still some doubt around Hockenson, despite his development, bringing in a veteran like Tonyan demonstrates that the Vikings are still searching for help at the position. Tonyan should have a chance to make the team during Training Camp, presumably battling for the #3 slot alongside Johnny Mundt and Nick Muse.
We will update this report whenever we learn of a related roster move that adds Tonyan to the roster.
