The Minnesota Vikings claimed former Cleveland Browns running back Ben Tate on waivers Wednesday.
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One day after being waived by the Browns, running back Ben Tate was claimed by the Vikings on waivers. The Vikings will now owe Tate $352,941 in guaranteed base salary for 2014, as well as $46,875 per game that he is on the 46 man roster, according to ESPN. His salary for 2015 is not guaranteed. The Vikings picking up Tate ultimately makes sense as there is a big possibility that running back Adrian Peterson will miss the rest of the season, unless he somehow wins his appeal.
The Vikings have been using rookie Jerick McKinnon as their primary back while Peterson has been gone, and Matt Asiata has also received some touches. However, both backs have health issues going into Week 12. McKinnon has been dealing with lower back soreness and did not practice on Wednesday, while Asiata also missed practiced with a concussion. Add that in with the Peterson suspension, and it’s obvious the Vikings needed running back help quickly.
Ben Tate complained about his lack of carries in the Browns three-back rotation, and subsequently had two carries for negative nine yards in the Browns’ loss last weekend. He was mostly being used as a third-down back in that game. Despite rushing for 202 yards over Weeks 5 and 6, Tate’s yards per carry were down to a paltry 1.7 over five games after.
Tate contested the idea that he was hurt or that his skill set had changed, saying that the running game was an 11-man effort.
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