A camp visit that turned into a contract
Tyler Batty tore an ACL in a preseason game against Denver. Two days later Minnesota put him on injured reserve. By Tuesday night the Vikings had a replacement in the building, and he is older than three of their position coaches would probably like to admit.
Kyle Van Noy agreed to a deal with Minnesota on Tuesday, multiple outlets reported. He visited the team facility earlier the same day. The Ringer says he will start on the practice squad “to ramp up,” which is the polite way of saying nobody expects a 35-year-old linebacker to walk in off the street and play 60 snaps in Week 1.
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What Minnesota is actually buying
Van Noy won two Super Bowls with New England. He spent the last three seasons in Baltimore, and the middle one was the best of his career: 12.5 sacks in 2024, a career high, and a first Pro Bowl at age 33. That is not a normal career arc for an edge rusher.
Last year told a different story. Fifteen games, 13 starts, 20 tackles, two sacks, one interception. The production fell off a cliff and Baltimore let him walk.
The full ledger still reads well. Across 173 regular-season games and 115 starts, split between Detroit, New England twice, Miami, the Chargers and Baltimore, Van Noy has 561 tackles, 57 sacks, four interceptions, 14 forced fumbles and 10 fumble recoveries. Six franchises in twelve years, and he was useful at all of them.
Where he fits
He slots behind Dallas Turner and Andrew Van Ginkel on the depth chart. That is the honest read. Minnesota is not asking him to start; they are asking him to be the guy who knows what to do when somebody ahead of him goes down, which is exactly what happened to Batty.
Practice squad status also gives the Vikings flexibility. They can elevate him for individual games without committing a roster spot, and if the pass rush holds up through September they never have to make the harder call.
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