5 free agents Vikings can sign to replace Adrian Peterson
By John Buhler
4. Brandon Wilds
If there is a free agent rookie for the Vikings to look into, it might be former South Carolina Gamecocks tailback Brandon Wilds. Wilds is 23 years old and spent five seasons in Columbia going up against vaunted SEC front sevens.
Wilds nearly made the 2016 Atlanta Falcons opening day roster, but Atlanta already has a deep running back rotation with Devonta Freeman, Tevin Coleman and Terron Ward. Atlanta liked all four running backs, but could only keep three on its 53-man roster.
If Minnesota is looking for another change of pace back to compliment McKinnon with Asiata taking over the No. 1 role for Peterson, Wilds might be their guy. Playing in a dome at US Bank Stadium should aid in Wilds’ growth as a rookie NFL running back. Bradford likes to throw check downs and Wilds is definitely capable of reeling in a few of those passes.
Signing Wilds would mean that the Vikings want another speed guy versus a power guy in their backfield. Somebody is going to sign Wilds this season. He could be a good player in this league. It might be in Minnesota’s best interest to be proactive and sign him anyway to not let anybody else grab him off the waiver wire.