Vikings announce jersey numbers for new players, swaps for veterans

Since we’re rapidly reaching the point of the offseason where there isn’t going to be a whole lot to talk about, let’s start with some cosmetic moves that the Minnesota Vikings made on Wednesday.

The team has announced the numbers for every player on the roster that hadn’t already been assigned one, most notably the team’s draft picks, undrafted free agents, and free agents they signed this offseason. They also announced some new numbers for veteran players as well.

So, for those of you that might be jersey aficionados, we’ll go through some of the big ones. If you want the full list of new numbers, you can check them out on the team’s official website.

• The team’s two first-round picks, quarterback J.J. McCarthy and edge defender Dallas Turner, will both don the numbers they wore in college, with McCarthy taking #9 and Turner taking the #15.
• Brian Asamoah has ceded his #33 to running back Aaron Jones, who wore that number throughout his career in Green Bay. Asamoah will now wear the #2 that was worn last year by Alexander Mattison.
• Ivan Pace Jr. has gone back to his college number, which will make him the second player in team history to wear the #0. You may or may not have noticed that Marcus Davenport wore that number last season.
• The #8 will now be worn by a wide receiver, as Trishton Jackson has switched to that jersey number. Last year he wore the #9 but, as mentioned above, he gave it up so that McCarthy could have it.
• Speaking of numbers that were worn by prominent members of last year’s squad, the #99 has been claimed by free agent defensive lineman Jerry Tillery.

The only numbers that are currently available for the Vikings are #60, #61, #62, and #66. Every other number has either already been claimed or has been retired by the team (the latter group includes #10, #53, #70, #77, #80, and #88).

And that’s your big number news for today. In a couple of weeks, we’ll probably be wishing for things that are this noteworthy.