On defense, with the line playing better of late and the linebacker group now healthy, Brian Flores’ main areas of concern surround the secondary, where they were short on experienced talent coming into the season, and now Jeff Okudah is going on his third-straight week recovering from the second concussion of 2025.

But recently, a glimmer of possible hope touched down at MSP Airport, in the form of cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. Minnesota was one of a handful of teams that got a chance to work Samuel Jr out to see if he is medically ready to get back on the field, after missing over a year out with a scary spine/neck injury.

Asante Samuel Jr gives Vikings the cold shoulder

Prior to his season ending four games into 2024, Asante Samuel Jr. was one of the top up-and-coming cornerbacks in the NFL. The timing was unfortunate too, being 2024 was the final year on his rookie-scale contract. Now, Asante has to prove with another team that he can still be that guy.

Unfortunately, that will not happen in a Minnesota Vikings uniform. This afternoon, news broke that the 26-year-old defensive back is signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers, as a member of their practice squad.

Free-agent cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. is signing with the Steelers practice squad, per source.

A top-25 free agent in March, Samuel recovered from spinal-fusion surgery in time to sign for the season’s second half. Now, he gets a new start with Pittsburgh. pic.twitter.com/pK5QfhfEy0

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) November 11, 2025

Related: Vikings Rival Coach on Hot Seat?

Asante Samuel Jr lands in Pittsburgh with four seasons and 50 NFL games under his belt (47 starts). He’s totalled 6 interceptions and 37 passes defended in those appearances, to go along with 176 total tackles.

It’s not like there was a bidding war for Samuel’s services, being he is signing with the Steelers practice squad. Obviously, this was a decision based on fit.

Whether or not the former Florida State Seminole is capable of making a major impact, at this point in his recovery from spine surgery has yet to be seen. In other words, the jury is still out on whether or not this was a missed opportunity for Minnesota.

Minnesota Vikings’ issues are on offense anyway…

While there are definitely warts that could use fixing on the defensive side of the football, it’s far the Vikings’ biggest problem. From what we have seen throughout the first nine games, those issues reside on offense.

Whether the quarterback has been JJ McCarthy or Carson Wentz, the results have oftentimes been the same. Minnesota remains bottom of the league in just about every important offensive category.

And at the end of the day, those questions need answered much more quickly than anything on defense, where the Minnesota Vikings have been much better than the offense.

But that frustration turned to hope on Wednesday, when it was reported that free agent cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. is scheduled to visit the Vikings in Eagan on Friday.

His stop at TCO Performance Center tomorrow is slotted between five other visits lined up around the league (Carolina, Pittsburgh, Green Bay, San Francisco and Chicago) over the coming days.

Samuel Jr., a 26-year-old former 2nd round pick, was cleared medically by independent doctors earlier this week to play football again, following a neck/spine injury that cost him most of 2024 and resulted in a rather controversial spinal fusion procedure over the offseason.

It'll be a busy couple weeks for Asante Samuel Jr. He's visiting the #Panthers today. After that, it's: #Packers (Thursday), #Vikings (Friday), #49ers (Monday), #Bears (Tuesday) and #Steelers (Wednesday). A thorough, methodical process. https://t.co/RZCbaBKHUd

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 5, 2025

Prior to his health scare/injury, Asante Samuel Jr. was one of the top young cornerbacks in the NFL, piling up 6 interceptions and 37 passes defended during his four-year care

So when news of Samuel Jr’s visits first broke, there was a sense of optimism around Vikings Territory. Why not? If healthy, the Florida State alum would essentially fix just about every defensive issue they currently have. Of course, the injury caveat there is very important.

Asante Samuel Jr. visit is for medical, not contract purposes

And on Thursday morning, we found out just how crucial it is to the Samuel Jr conversation. While on with the Power Trip Morning Show on KFAN Radio this morning, Tom Pelissero (NFL Network) reported that Asante Samuel Jr.’s visits are not what we originally thought they were.

According to the top league insider and Edina native, all of Samuel Jr’s visits are for medical purposes only. He is working out for team doctors and trainers, who will then decide if he is indeed healthy enough to warrant a possible signing.

“Asante Samuel Jr, the reason a player like that has a five or six team tour setup is medical. He needs to go in and get physicals in different places. Without getting too deep into the weeds on the nature of the injury, it is something very serious and very scary that he is coming back from.

He had a surgery and this is not an injury that a lot of doctors thought a surgery was going to be able to fully fix. So it’s not just a matter of his doctors clearing him, it’s a team medical staff clearing him. And when you’re talking about a neck issue, a spine issue, those are really sensitive kinds of topics.”

Tom Pelissero – Power Trip Morning Show (KFAN Radio)

Last week in Detroit, the Minnesota Vikings’ got interior pressure on QB Jared Goff that we had not yet seen during the Kevin O’Connell era.

It was that incessant pass rush vs the Lions which allowed a previously underwhelming Vikings secondary cover long enough for DT Javon Hargrave and the boys get home for five total sacks and 11 QB hits.

Minnesota Vikings coaches, execs won’t meet with Samuel Jr

But going forward, the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive backs will continue to be a problem, if they can’t find more help. If you are hoping that help will come in the form of Asante Samuel Jr., however, then you are banking an a process that still has a long way to go, even after this first round of medical visits.

According to Pelissero’s interview on KFAN, this six team medical tour will not include any meetings with head coaches or high-ranking executives. Again, teams just want to figure out if he is healthy enough to play football, before they even think about what it will take to sign him.

“[Asante Samuel Jr.] probably would have been probably the corner to get paid, along with the guys like Carlton Davis in this past free agency class, if he were healthy. The fact that it’s November and we’re talking about him taking a medical tour just shows you how significant this is.

It doesn’t mean the Vikings or someone else won’t sign him. I would just say that this isn’t him coming in and meeting the coaching staff and deciding where to go. This is these teams wanting to put him through a battery of tests and make their own determinations.

There’s 32 team doctors with 32 degrees of risk tolerance. Everybody is going to make their own judgement on this because it is something pretty significant.”

Tom Pelissero – Power Trip Morning Show (KFAN Radio)

Minnesota Vikings could use Asante Samuel Jr this weekend

The Minnesota Vikings are preparing to suit up for a week 10 – NFC vs AFC battle on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium against the Baltimore Ravens and arguably the best quarterback in the NFL, Lamar Jackson, who returned from injury last week to throw for 204 yards and 4 touchdowns in an easy 28-6 win over the dysfunctional Dolphins.

Jackson was forced to sit out for three games, due to the hamstring injury he suffered week 4 against the Kansas City Chiefs. In the five games he has started, the 28-year-old 2X NFL MVP has completed 72.9% of his passes for 1,073 yards, 14 touchdowns and just 1 interception. Oh, and he has rushed for 180 yards and 1 TD too.

Reated: MN Vikings QB Joins Mahomes and Marino in Rare Company

And on Sunday, Jackson will matchup against a MN Vikings defense that played its best game of the season last week in Detroit, a 27-23 upset victory against the division rival Lion, a high-powered offense that Brian Flores & Co. held to they held to just 116 yards passing, the Lions’ lowest air total on the season.

If they can maintain that going forward, there would be no need to sign an Asante Samuel Jr. But no matter what the Vikings tell us, they need help in the secondary and they know it. Unfortunately, we will have to wait patiently to find out if Samuel can help fix it. Then, we’ll talk about whether or not he actually will.

Afterward, the Vikings told reporters that they did not make any moves because they really don’t have any holes on the roster. Of course, we all know that isn’t true, which leaves us to ponder the real reasons behind Minnesota’s inaction at the deadline.

Some (me), for example, pointed to the $344+ million spent on the 2025 roster and questioned whether or not Kwesi might have found the bottom of what we believed to be a bottomless Wilf wallet. Is it possible Zygi and Mark told their third-year GM that they’re tired of having to overspend to fix his drafting deficiencies?

As is the case with most things in life, the answer to why the Minnesota Vikings stayed silent at the deadline is not black and white. For example, the Vikings are already scheduled to be nearly $25 million over the salary cap in 2026.

That makes trading and signing free agents more complex than whether they fit in under the 2025 cap, where Adofo-Mensah and his front office still have over $16 million in space (per Spotrac). But no matter the reason for their silence yesterday, it doesn’t appear the GM has some financial wiggle room to work with.

Minnesota Vikings hosting star cornerback on free agent visit

Because there is no way they’d host top free agent cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. on a visit, if they didn’t have the financial backing to pay him should he choose to wear purple, right?

Well, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, the (4-4) Vikings are doing just that at some point in the near future. On Wednesday, the 26-year-old former 2nd round pick is first visiting the Carolina Panthers. The division-rival Packers are also on the list of visits Samuel Jr reportedly has scheduled.

Sources: The #Packers and #Vikings are also scheduled to have visits with CB Asante Samuel Jr.

But #Panthers are first today, I'm told. 👇 https://t.co/WwREq9Zw0R pic.twitter.com/4mjEriHj83

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) November 5, 2025

Over the course of his four-year NFL career, Asante Samuel Jr. has compiled 50 games played, 47 starts, 6 interceptions, 37 passes defended, 148 tackles and 3 tackles for loss.

Why is Asante Samuel Jr. available and is he good?

Why is Samuel Jr. available during week 10 of the NFL season? It’s because the former Florida State Seminole suffered an injury last year that forced him to miss the final 13 games of LA’s 2024 season.

In April, he had spinal fusion surgery that he hopes has fixed what he essentially describes as a permanent stinger-type pain in both shoulders. This week, he was cleared to play by independent doctors, which is why he’s now planning free agent visits.

The former Florida State Seminole is still very young, at just 26. If his next team gets the lockdown CB Asante Samuel Jr. was from 2022-2023, the impact would be comparable to what the Colts just paid two first rounders for at the deadline, to get Sauce Gardner.

GIVE ME ASANTE SAMUEL JR OR GIVE ME DEATH pic.twitter.com/vgtFsVGB2B

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) November 5, 2025

But the four games Samuel Jr. played in 2024 prior to injury were not very good, according to Pro Football Focus. After earning PFF grades of 72.6 and 73.9 in 2022 and 2023, respectively, Asante graded out as a 59.3 last season, his worst since 2021, when he was a rookie.

How much will Asante Samuel Jr. cost and can MN Vikings afford it?

The next question surrounds how much Samuel Jr. will cost. If he is visiting the Minnesota Vikings, then he is clearly open to a one-year deal, in order to prove he can play like his 2022-2023 self. If that is the case, then the Vikings have as much as they need, to get a deal done.

It’s important to remember, however, that NFL teams roll their cap savings from one year into the next. So anyone they sign this year, whether it be Asante Samuel Jr. or someone else, will affect how much wiggle room they have in 2026… which is currently 24.6 million in the red.

Thus, we will see how much money Samuel Jr wants, should he decide the MN Vikings are his best fit. Nonetheless, this is quite the development, given how quiet this organization was at the deadline on Tuesday.