Vikings release Mond, Mannion and Watts; make two trades

The Vikings' moves to form the initial 53-man roster on Tuesday included cutting defensive lineman Armon Watts and quarterbacks Kellen Mond and Sean Mannion, and trading twice.

General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah made the first of two trades by sending a sixth-round pick to the Texans for defensive lineman Ross Blacklock and a seventh-round pick. Later on Tuesday afternoon, Adofo-Mensah dealt veteran guard Jesse Davis to the Steelers for a conditional 2025 seventh-round pick.

Blacklock, 24, is a former 2020 second-round pick by the Texans who was deployed mostly as a rotational defender in 3-4 schemes the past two seasons. He'll help replace Watts, who started nine games last year and was released Tuesday in a surprising move after lining up as a starter throughout training camp. Watts had three tackles and a sack in 30 preseason snaps while transitioning to a different position as a 3-4 defensive end.

Former Bears defender Jonathan Bullard, who signed in June, could replace Watts in the starting lineup. The Vikings cleared Watts' $2.5 million salary, which was not guaranteed, with the move.

Davis, 30, lost a summer competition for the right guard job to second-round draft pick Ed Ingram, who is now in line to start the Sept. 11 opener against the Packers.

"It's been trending that way," head coach Kevin O'Connell said of starting Ingram. "Jesse [Davis] did a lot of really good things [Saturday], especially early. Jesse has worked through some little nicks here throughout camp as far as things being a little tight."

Mond, the 2021 third-round pick under former general manager Rick Spielman, was also among the team's cuts. The backup quarterback competition never really got off the ground as neither Mannion nor Mond played consistently enough to prevent Adofo-Mensah from acquiring quarterback Nick Mullens from the Raiders last week.

Mond's inconsistent accuracy and decision-making marred his performance in three preseason games, in which he completed 29 of 51 passes (56.9%) for 303 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He came off the bench in the second half of the preseason finale at Denver and didn't get much help from his teammates, who dropped four passes.

"When Kellen came in, we just could not do much," O'Connell said. "We had a few plays where we had a chance to make something happen and couldn't."

Mond was inactive for all but two games during his rookie season. He made one appearance, playing three snaps in a loss at Green Bay.

Mannion and Mond are eligible for the practice squad. Mannion started two preseason games and completed 27 of 43 passes (62.8%) for 265 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions in three appearances.

Mullens, acquired via the Aug. 22 trade with the Raiders, is the lone backup on the active roster to Kirk Cousins.

"Just studying as hard as I can," Mullens said after suiting up as an emergency option in Saturday's preseason finale at Denver. "I gotta be studying and hammering the playbook."

Defensive lineman Jaylen Twyman and T.J. Smith, running back Bryant Koback, receivers Dan Chisena and Trishton Jackson, linebackers Chazz Surratt, William Kwenkeu and Blake Lynch, tight ends Zach Davidson and Nick Muse, cornerbacks Parry Nickerson and Nate Hairston, safeties Mike Brown and Myles Dorn, edge rushers Janarius Robinson and Zach McCloud and center Josh Sokol, guards Wyatt Davis and Kyle Hinton were also waived. Defensive tackle Jullian Taylor was waived with an injury settlement.

Adofo-Mensah moved on from three top-100 draft picks last year in Mond (66th overall), Surratt (78th) and Davis (86th), who were all third-round selections. The Vikings also released Robinson, a 2021 fourth-round pick who missed his rookie year to injury, in favor of Luiji Vilain, the undrafted rookie out of Wake Forest.

Mannion, Muse, McCloud and Sokol are candidates to return to the practice squad, which can be formed on Wednesday. Up to 16 players can be re-signed; 10 spots are reserved for players with no more than two accrued NFL seasons while six spots are available for veteran players.

Star Tribune writer Ben Goessling contributed to this report.