Kyle Sloter says his time with the Vikings came with a strange message: he was told to tone it down.
On The Victory Degree podcast, the former Minnesota quarterback claimed the staff wanted less from him during preseason action. “I was told, when I was at the Vikings at one point, that I needed to do less,” Sloter said. “That I needed to go out there and be worse in the preseason.”
Sloter spent years trying to stick in the NFL, USFL, and XFL, and Minnesota gave him one of his bigger opportunities. He appeared in eight preseason games for the Vikings across 2018 and 2019 before the team waived him after the 2019 preseason.
He said the logic behind that kind of instruction is about protecting the quarterback hierarchy. “They don’t want competition between a backup quarterback and a starter,” he said.
“Don’t want any controversy. They don’t want those things.”
He also pointed to the financial side. “Especially when you have a lot of guaranteed money on a guy that is going to play, no matter what.”
Sloter never named the quarterback he believed the comment was tied to. Heavy suggested he may have been referring to Kirk Cousins, who was with Minnesota at the time and had signed the first fully guaranteed contract in NFL history, worth $84 million over three years. That connection remains an inference from the outlets, not something Sloter confirmed.
For his part, Sloter said he wasn’t wired to ease off. “You have to play like a backup, and it just was never me,” he said. “It was never me to not go out there and compete.”
Minnesota’s quarterback room has changed plenty since then, with Kyler Murray’s Vikings debut drawing attention in September. Even J.J. McCarthy has come and gone, with the Vikings trading him to the Giants this season.
In Other News...
Vikings May Have Found Their Sneakiest Defensive Upgrade Yet
The Vikings 4-0 start has been built in part on a defense that keeps finding useful answers in unexpected places, and James Pierre has quickly become one of them. The veteran cornerback, signed in March, has worked his way into a meaningful role early in the season, sitting third among Minnesota cornerbacks in coverage snaps while drawing limited attention from opposing quarterbacks.
What makes Pierre so intriguing is that the Vikings do not sound eager to run him into the ground. They appear intent on using him strategically, keeping him fresh for the stretch run while still leaning on him now, which makes the next chance against the Saints another opportunity to see how much value he can keep adding to an already unbeaten team. [Read more 🡒]
Former Vikings QB Raises Ugly Question About Minnesota's QB Competition
Kyle Sloters latest podcast comments gave an old Vikings conversation a fresh and uncomfortable twist. The former Minnesota quarterback said his experience in camp left him with the sense that teams do not always want true backup-versus-starter competition, especially when the No. 1 quarterback comes with the kind of contract security that can tilt the whole room.
Sloter did not name the quarterback involved, but his remarks have already been tied by others to Kirk Cousins, who held the job in Minnesota at the time. The broader point is the one that lingers for the Vikings: how much real competition can exist in a quarterback room when the financial setup makes the depth chart feel settled before the preseason even begins? [Read more 🡒]
Mike Ditka Was A Bears Icon And Longtime Vikings Villain
Mike Ditkas place in NFL history was secure long before he became a familiar headache for Minnesota, but his connection to the Vikings was part of what made his legend linger here. The first tight end elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Ditka starred for the Bears and later moved into coaching, where his hard-edged style and championship pedigree made him one of the defining figures of his era. He also spent time with the Eagles and Cowboys as a player and later coached Chicago and New Orleans, building a rsum that still stands out for its range and influence.
For Vikings fans, Ditka was never just a name in a record book. He was part of the long-running NFC North animosity, a Bears icon whose teams always seemed to sit in the middle of the divisions biggest moments. His career also put him in a rare class across the league, as one of only two people to win a Super Bowl as a player, an assistant coach and a head coach, a reminder of how wide his imprint spread before this latest chapter closed. [Read more 🡒]