The Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday announced they have agreed to terms with former Los Angeles Rams tight end Johnny Mundt to open the NFL’s 2022 free agency period.
Mundt joins a familiar offensive scheme in Minnesota with former Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell now the head coach and former Rams tight ends coach Wes Phillips as the offensive coordinator.
Phillips brought up Mundt during his introductory press conference when asked about personnel groupings.
The Rams led the NFL last season in usage of 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end, three receivers), going with that grouping 83.6 percent of the time, and the Vikings shifted to a similar strategy when Irv Smith Jr. was injured.
“When you’re looking at what we were doing in L.A., at one point we had Robert Woods, we had Cooper Kupp and then we kind of mixed in Odell [Beckham, Jr.] toward the end when Robert was out. So it’s really about the personnel that you have,” Phillips said. “We were more 12 personnel early in the year when we had a guy in Johnny Mundt, who was an effective blocker in 12 personnel to go with [tight end Tyler] Higbee. Later on, that wasn’t the case.”
Mundt joined the Rams in 2017 as an undrafted free agent out of Oregon and appeared in 47 total games primarily as a blocking tight end. He has caught 10 passes for 93 yards on 10 targets in those contests, including four receptions for 53 yards in 2020.
This past season, Mundt was limited to six games because of a torn ACL that landed him on Injured Reserve. He finished the season with just one catch for nine yards.
Mundt contributed on special teams as a rookie in L.A.’s run to Super Bowl LIII and has appeared in five total postseason games. Mundt also overlapped with Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels with the Rams from 2018-19 when Daniels assisted the group.
Von Miller signs with Bills
Although Von Miller had expressed interest in returning to Los Angeles, it was anyone’s guess where he would end up as he also teased a return to the Denver Broncos. However, where he is ultimately going is a team that came out of nowhere as he announced on his Instagram that he is signing with the Buffalo Bills.
It took a gigantic offer to pry Miller out of Los Angeles, and that’s exactly what the Bills gave him.
