Vikings Expected to Work Out Veteran Linebacker
MinnesotaSportsFan.com · Eric Strack · 2026-09-01T17:45:31+00:00 · nguồn gốc
Vikings Expected to Work Out Veteran Linebacker
The Minnesota Vikings are working to get their roster right, before their week one matchup at U.S. Bank Stadium, against the Green Bay Packers. And believe it or not, there are questions that remain unanswered, beyond just backup quarterback.
And the biggest one might be on defense, specifically at outside linebacker, where the Vikings are currently relying on an oft-injured Andrew Van Ginkel and unproven Dallas Turner to take pretty much all of the starting reps, over the course of Minnesota’s 18-week (17-game) season.
That’s probably a little bit risky, but this is Brian Flores’ current lot in life, after the exit of Jonathan Greenard this offseason… unless GM Nolan Teasley adds more talent to the room between now and September 13.
Minnesota Vikings interested in veteran linebacker
From the sounds of it, that’s exactly what Minnesota’s new general manager is trying to do. According to Darren Wolfson (KSTP), the Vikings are very much interested in free agent veteran linebacker Kyle Van Noy, who is expected to workout at TCO Performance Center in the very near future, assumedly this week.
Free agent Kyle Van Noy is very much on the #Vikings radar. A visit is expected to take place. Personally, seeing how entertaining he is on this app, 🙏🏼 to happening! pic.twitter.com/aa2eRyUJLI
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) September 1, 2026
Related: JJ McCarthy Made Decision to Sit Out Preseason Finale, Not Vikings
Kyle Van Noy, 35, is a 12-year NFL veteran with 173 games of experience under his belt. Over the course of his impressive career, Van Noy has compiling 561 total tackles, 74 TFL, 102 QB hits and 57 sacks playing for five different teams — Ravens, Chargers, Patriots, Dolphins, Lions.
The Vikings would make it six teams, for Van Noy, who originally entered the league as a Detroit Lions second round draft pick back in 2014. However, the BYU alum has spent the past three seasons in Baltimore, where in 2024 (at 33 y/o), he produced his only Pro Bowl season, which included career highs in both sacks (12.5) and QB hits (21).
Get to know Kyle Van Noy
Of course, Van Noy’s job has changed pretty significantly since his early 20’s, when he first cracked the league with Detroit. In fact, for his first two seasons, Kyle played almost exclusively special teams.
Seven games after being promoted to starter (year three), the Lions traded Van Noy, along with a 7th round pick (2017), to the New England Patriots, who sent a 6th rounder back to Detroit to complete the deal. That’s all it cost for the Patriots to get a starting linebacker for the next 2.5 seasons.
New England was also where Van Noy first linked up with Brian Flores, who really started to experiment with him as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense. During his first three seasons in the NFL, Van Noy totalled just two sacks. Over his next eight seasons, he got at least five or more in all but one (2018).
Since Kyle Van Noy joined the Baltimore Ravens, he has recorded 15 sacks in 18 games; obscene levels of production!
— Nic Mason (@British_Raven19) October 3, 2024
Alongside that, he also leads the league in tackles for loss. At 33, Kyle Van Noy is heading towards a career year!
Long may it continue! #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/ZTPvvlWxfr
Related: MN Vikings Fill Out Entire Practice Squad… For Now
After playing a hybrid role for a few years in New England, and then again under Flores in Miami, the then 31-year-old veteran signed with the LA Chargers in 2022, as an EDGE rusher.
But his pass rush numbers really went into overdrive the next season (2023), when he landed in Baltimore. During his first two seasons as a Raven, Kyle Van Noy posted 21.5 sacks, 30 QB hits, 71 tackles and 4 forced fumbles, to go with 6 passes defended, making him one of the more productive pass rushers in football.
Not the football player he once was…
However, last season, age may have caught up to the now 35-year-old linebacker. In 15 games last season (13 starts), Van Noy produced just 2 sacks and 9 QB hits to go along with 20 total tackles, a far cry from his aforementioned career highs, just one year earlier.
This week (probably), the Minnesota Vikings will find out if the aging veteran still has any gas left in the tank. If he does, Van Noy could be the perfect fit for a defense that just needs more competent depth, on the outside. If not, it looks like Brian Flores and Nolan Teasley will be on the hunt for other guys who could fill that same kind of role.
Wow. Joe Burrow is picked off by Kyle Van Noy, who then hands it off to Alohi Gilman — and he goes 95 yards for a Ravens TD.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 14, 2025
Second straight week with a pick-6 for Burrow.pic.twitter.com/Qb0wMNEohz
JJ McCarthy might still be running right now if this play had tricked Kyle Van Noy like it did every other Ravens defender… pic.twitter.com/xXhbuVdzrH
— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) November 9, 2025
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