Less than a week after the season-ending ACL injury to rookie running back Dalvin Cook, the Vikings are trying to address their lack of depth at the position.
Minnesota signed running back Stevan Ridley, the team announced Thursday morning. The 28-year-old has previously played for the Patriots, Jets, Lions, Colts, Falcons, and Broncos.
Relatively speaking, Ridley has actually lasted a long time in the league (the average running back goes for 2.57 years) – just not for long with any one franchise.
The Vikings will be his seventh team in seven seasons.
Ridley came into the league to be the workhorse behind Tom Brady in New England. His best season came as a sophomore in 2012, where he racked up 290 carries for 1,263 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Since then he’s been less successful, amassing a total of 1,210 yards over the past four years (that’s 302.5 yards per season). He hasn’t scored a touchdown since 2014. That’s the year he suffered a ‘Grade 3’ ACL tear in the middle of the Patriots’ Super Bowl season.
In Minnesota, Ridley will have to vie for carries with the Vikings’ two running backs already on roster: Latavius Murray and Jerrick McKinnon.
