Vikings Waive Bashaud Breeland After Spat With Coaches and Teammates, More

The Minnesota Vikings signed Bashaud Breeland during the offseason, they thought he’d be another veteran presence for a young secondary that, if nothing else, needed the depth. At times, he’s been pretty good.

Other times, he’s been really bad. But Breeland definitely provided something for Mike Zimmer, who played him as the starter for a majority of the defensive snaps when healthy. On Saturday afternoon, however, Breeland was waived. He tweeted “wow” minutes before the news broke.

The #Vikings have waived CB Bashaud Breeland.

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) December 18, 2021

Wow

— Bashaud Breeland (@Bree2Land6) December 18, 2021

What happened?

Tom Pelissero (NFL Network) first reported that Breeland had gotten into it with teammates and coaches at practice on Saturday. It must’ve been relatively early on if they gave him a non-participant designation. Ben Goessling (Star Tribune) indulged deeper into what happened between Breeland, Cook and others. The altercation started as trash talk but got so bad that it had to be broken up by Rick Spielman, himself.

The #Vikings waived starting CB Bashaud Breeland after he got into a verbal altercation today at practice with coaches, took off his cleats and got into it with multiple teammates who were trying to calm the situation, sources tell me and @RapSheet. Too much to come back from.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 18, 2021

Sources said Breeland exchanged words with Dalvin Cook and Sheldon Richardson, among others, before Rick Spielman stepped in to break things up.

— Ben Goessling (@BenGoessling) December 18, 2021

Shortly after his waived status was made public, Chris Tomasson (Pioneer Press) reported that Breeland, who was on the injury report with a “non-injury related” designation on Saturday, was sued for $15,000 back in October, accused of smoking a lot of pot in his non-smoking apartment complex. There doesn’t appear to be a correlation between the lawsuit and Breeland’s release.

The Numbers

Breeland’s numbers this season certainly didn’t help his cause. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s allowed 13.5 yards per reception and a passer rating of 112.6 when thrown at. His 47.2 PFF grade ranks 117 of 119 cornerbacks in the NFL.

This leaves the Minnesota Vikings thin at CB. It’ll be Patrick Peterson, Cam Dantzler and Kris Boyd on the outside, with Mackensie Alexander patrolling the slot. Any updates that release in the next couple of hours will be added to this blog.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan