The Vikings spent Wednesday patching up a tight end group that has been hit hard over the past month.
Minnesota added Bryson Nesbit and Devin Culp to the practice squad after losing Cam Grandy when the Cincinnati Bengals signed him away and placing wide receiver Michael Briscoe on the practice squad/injured list. Those two moves created the opening the Vikings needed, and they used both spots on tight ends.
The depth chart has been especially bare since Josh Oliver tore his biceps in Week 3. Minnesota put him on injured reserve on Sept. 29, and he’s expected to miss the rest of the regular season. That leaves TJ Hockenson, Gavin Bartholomew and Ben Yurosek as the only tight ends on the active roster heading into Sunday’s game in Detroit.
Nesbit is already a familiar name around TCO Performance Center. The 24-year-old first joined the Vikings as an undrafted free agent out of North Carolina in 2025 and spent last season on the practice squad.
Minnesota brought him back on a reserve/future contract on Jan. 5, and he survived into the summer before his camp ended with an injury. He caught three passes for 29 yards in the 2026 preseason, then the Vikings waived him with an injury designation on Aug. 30 and released him with an injury settlement the next day.
At North Carolina, he posted 107 catches for 1,510 yards and 13 touchdowns over four seasons.
Culp arrives as the fresh face in the room. The 26-year-old is listed at 6-foot-4 and 237 pounds, and he played collegiately at Washington, where he finished with 66 catches for 711 yards and four touchdowns. Tampa Bay selected him in the seventh round, 246th overall, in the 2024 NFL Draft after he turned in a 4.47 40-yard dash at the combine, the fastest time by any tight end there.
His NFL résumé is still brief. Culp played in 18 games over two seasons with the Buccaneers and caught six passes for 94 yards and a touchdown.
Tampa Bay waived him on Aug. 31, kept him on its practice squad for two days in early September, and then he spent a week on the Cleveland Browns practice squad this month from Oct. 13 until his release on Oct. 20.
He’ll wear No. 82 in Minnesota.
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