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ESPN Staff Writer- Courtney Cronin joined ESPN in 2017, originally covering the Minnesota Vikings before switching to the Chicago Bears in 2022. Courtney is a frequent panelist on Around the Horn and host of Best Week Ever and GameNight on ESPN Radio. She also co-hosts The Chicago Bears Podcast on ESPN 1000. She previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News as a multimedia sports journalist.
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ESPN- Brady Henderson is a reporter for NFL Nation and covers the Seattle Seahawks for ESPN. He joined ESPN in 2017 after covering the team for Seattle Sports 710-AM.
EAGAN, Minn. -- Former Vikings defensive tackle Tom Johnson is reuniting with his former team, it was announced Wednesday.
Johnson, who was released by Seattle last week, signed with the Vikings on a one-year deal worth up to $1.5 million, according to a source.
Johnson played 68 percent of the snaps for Minnesota at 3-technique tackle in 2017. The Vikings opted to move on from the eighth-year defensive lineman in free agency and signed Sheldon Richardson as his replacement.
The former Southern Miss product is being brought in to aid with Minnesota's defensive line rotation on the interior. Behind Richardson and nose tackle Linval Joseph, the Vikings have Jaleel Johnson and David Parry. Fourth-round rookie Jalyn Holmes was inactive for Sunday's 29-29 tie at Green Bay.
To make room on the 53-man roster, Minnesota released nose tackle David Parry, who recorded a sack against the Packers on Sunday.
The Vikings signed kicker Dan Bailey on Tuesday and created room on the roster by releasing wide receiver Stacy Coley.
Johnson's release last week was a surprise given that he had started in Seattle's opener and played 39 of 74 defensive snaps, finishing with one tackle. Coach Pete Carroll had raved about Johnson over the summer, saying he wished Seattle had signed him six or seven years ago.
When asked after Johnson's release if he could be back, Carroll said there "could definitely be a chance" for that. Seattle promoted safety Shalom Luani from its practice squad while releasing Johnson. Interestingly, Luani was active but didn't play a snap on defense or special teams in Seattle's loss to the Bears on Monday night.
Seattle had signed Johnson to a one-year deal worth $2.1 million and $900,000 guaranteed.
