![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/USATSI_21140408_168394844_lowres.jpg\")
Aug 3, 2023; Eagan, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings linebacker Brian Asamoah II (33) during training camp at TCO Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAug 3, 2023; Eagan, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings linebacker Brian Asamoah II (33) during training camp at TCO Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was hired as Vikings GM in the 2022 offseason, and, 40 months later, it\u2019s fair to concede that his first draft in charge was a disaster. Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth Jr. didn\u2019t work out at all, and Ed Ingram was benched in his third season with the Vikings. Adofo-Mensah\u2019s three picks from rounds one and two are off the team. On Tuesday, the third-rounder was axed, too. <\/p>\n
Vikings\u2019 Defender Gets Essential Career Reset<\/p>\n
Brian Asamoah, the linebacker out of Oklahoma, was waived, the team announced<\/a>: \u201cThe Vikings on Tuesday announced they have waived linebacker Brian Asamoah II.\u201d<\/p>\n Selected with the 66th overall pick, the defender was supposed to be the future of Minnesota\u2019s linebacker position, as starters Eric Kendricks and Jordan Hicks were not getting any younger. As one of those modern-day linebackers who are built like a safety (he\u2019s 6\u20190\u2033 and 226 lbs), Asamoah entered the league with the promise of being a rangy and quick linebacker. <\/p>\n In his rookie season, he couldn\u2019t enter the lineup as the previously mentioned starters stayed healthy throughout the season, but Asamoah showed flashes as a rotational player. In fact, his coaches claimed they would find some available reps for the rookie to give the other two guys a breather\u2014a classic win-win situation. <\/p>\n After his rookie season, however, Ed Donatell was fired, and Brian Flores arrived. The new defensive coordinator didn\u2019t trust Asamoah at all, first giving the starting job to undrafted rookie Ivan Pace rather than promoting the sophomore, and in year two, he hired Kamu Grugier-Hill to be the backup behind Pace and Cashman. This offseason, Eric Wilson replaced Grugier-Hill as the third linebacker in the mix. <\/p>\n To make the situation even worse, for the second time in his four-year tenure, Adofo-Mensah picked a linebacker in this year\u2019s draft. Kobe King<\/a> joined the LB group in the sixth round, and Asamoah\u2019s clock had been ticking since that point. Usually, teams don\u2019t axe rookies, especially if the competition has not played a role under the current coaching staff, and keeping only four linebackers on the roster is the standard. <\/p>\n Vikings Territory\u2019s Dustin Baker noted<\/a>, \u201cAlmost every fan and purple writer\/analyst had forecasted Asamoah\u2019s release. Why? Well, the team doesn\u2019t use him on defense \u2014 outside of a few sweet plays as a rookie in 2022 \u2014 and habitually finds \u2018another guy\u2019 to play middle linebacker when injuries emerge. For example, rather than letting Asamoah accrue playing time during the 2023 season, Minnesota quickly signed Anthony Barr to fill those snaps. Last year, veteran Kamu Grugier-Hill seized the role that many thought Asamoah would handle when drafted in 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n In his three seasons with the Vikings, Asamoah appeared in 46 games and logged 30 tackles, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. Most of his snaps in the past two years came on special teams. He ultimately played 802 snaps in the third phase and only 188 on defense. <\/p>\n The defender also appeared in the preseason opener, actually starting with a pretty nice tackle for loss when he shot through the hole and made the play. He was on the field for 29 snaps, 23 of those on defense. <\/p>\n The early release provides Asamoah a nice head start with his next team. Someone will surely pick up the former third-rounder based on his skills on special teams or his draft pedigree. By cutting him now, way ahead of the cutdown day on August 26, the linebacker has a couple of extra weeks to learn the playbook of his new team and even audition for a roster spot in practice and a couple of preseason contests. <\/p>\n Asamoah is 25 years old. <\/p>\n Editor\u2019s Note: Information from\u00a0PFF<\/a>,\u00a0Over The Cap<\/a>,\u00a0and\u00a0Pro Football Reference<\/a>\u00a0helped with this article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aug 3, 2023; Eagan, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings linebacker Brian Asamoah II (33) during training camp at TCO…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283542,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2073],"tags":[20538,7,233,259,2529,6,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-283541","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-brian-asamoah","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-minnesota","11":"tag-minnesota-vikings","12":"tag-minnesotavikings","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115018751442894103","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"brian](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/USATSI_24943764.jpg\")
Dec 8, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings linebacker Brian Asamoah II (6) celebrates his team\u2019s fumble recovery against the Atlanta Falcons during the fourth quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images<\/p>\n![\"brian](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/USATSI_21771030.jpg\")
Penn State linebacker Kobe King (41) tackles an Indiana ball carrier in the first half of an NCAA football game at Beaver Stadium Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023, in State College, Pa. The Nittany Lions won, 33-24.<\/p>\n![\"brian](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Syndication-Akron-Beacon-Journal-24020180.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
Cleveland Browns quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson (17) is sacked at the 1-yard line by Minnesota Vikings linebacker Brian Asamoah II (2) during the first half of an NFL preseason football game at Cleveland Browns Stadium, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Cleveland, Ohio.<\/p>\n