The Minnesota Vikings are set to roll into Week 1 of the 2024 regular season with Sam Darnold under center as the starting quarterback and incumbent veteran Nick Mullens and former Chicago Bears QB Brett Rypien behind him.
Rookie first-round pick J.J. McCarthy is out for the season following surgery to repair a torn meniscus which he suffered in the Vikings’ first preseason game.
The Vikings moved on from the last QB they drafted, cutting Jaren Hall to meet the 53-man limit.
Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said that he wanted to bring the second-year QB back as a member of the Vikings’ practice squad. But Hall, a fifth-round pick in the 2023 draft did not have to wait long to find a different opportunity.
“The #Seahawks signed former #Vikings QB Jaren Hall to the practice squad,” NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported on X on September 2.
Here was Jaren Hall — signed today to the Seahawks’ practice squad to be their third QB — throwing before practice. He’s wearing 15. Listed at 6-0, 211 pounds.
“We would try and bring back Jaren,” Adofo-Mensah told reporters on August 29. “I think Jaren’s done a great job for us. Obviously, he really improved over the preseason. I use that development word a lot. And with quarterbacks, you don’t want to throw these guys in too early. And I think with him, we just want more time to pour into him. That’s really what it is.
“I’ve learned from last season that you’re either one snap away, or you’re one snap from being one snap away.
“We just wanted to be in a position where we felt adding Brett to the room feels good. We feel good about that decision, but also giving us more time to pour into Jaren and work with him if he so chooses to do that
Bears Used Jaren Hall’s Preseason Reps as Teaching Tape for Caleb Williams
Hall appeared in three games as a rookie for the Vikings in 2023. He completed 65% of his passes for 168 yards and one interception. He started two games and won one of them. The win came in a contest that he exited in the first quarter with a concussion.
There were two quarterbacks drafted after Hall, the No. 164 overall pick of the 2023 class, in a group that saw 16 QBs come off the board.
Hall remains a project.
That much showed during the preseason in a moment captured on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.” Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was shown pointing out Hall’s near-costly spike in the Vikings’ preseason Week 1 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
“Notable that the Bears used Jaren Hall’s weird spike in preseason Week 1 as an example of what they don’t want rookie QB Caleb Williams to do,” ESPN’s Kevin Seifert posted on X on August 30. “Had officials called Hall for intentional grounding, the ensuing 10-second runoff would have ended the game.”
Hall received the snap with four seconds remaining in the game. The Vikings were poised to stop the clock, setting them up for a game-winning field goal.
The young QB took a half-step back and nearly kneeled before spiking the ball.
He successfully stopped the clock, allowing rookie sixth-round pick Will Reichard to hit the game-winning 38-yard field goal. Hall finished the 2024 preseason having completed 60.8% of his passes for 339 yards and four touchdowns.
The former BYU Cougar joins a Seahawks QB room that includes veteran starter Geno Smith and former Washington Commanders fifth-round pick (2022) Sam Howell.
Hall and the Seahawks will host the Vikings in Week 16 of the regular season.
Vikings Give Jaren Hall’s Number Away
The Vikings announced a swath of new numbers for players on the roster on September 2 with the 90-man group down to 53 at the deadline. Reichard was among them, switching from No. 46 to Hall’s former jersey, No. 16.
Reichard wore No. 16 in college at Alabama.
Other notable switches include newcomers Stephon Gilmore (No. 23 to No. 2) and Fabian Moreau (No. 39 to No. 23). 2022 third-rounder Brian Asamoah (No. 33 to No. 6) also switched.
