Minnesota Vikings sign quarterback Jordan Ta'amu from XFL

The Minnesota Vikings have added quarterback Jordan Ta’amu to the roster ahead of the final week of preseason games. Ta’amu is fresh off of earning the XFL’s Offensive Player of the Year award and is looking to make a comeback into the league.

The former Ole Miss standout jumped around rosters in the league from the Chiefs to the Commanders and Panthers, but played for the XFL’s D.C. Defenders this season. Ta’amu worked out for the Vikings in June and though the workout initially yielded nothing, he now has a contract.

Ta’amu started his career as the backup to Shea Patterson, but jumped into the starting role after Patterson transferred to Michigan. In the 12 games he played in 2018, he threw for 3,918 yards and 19 touchdowns as Ole Miss finished 5-7. After going undrafted in the 2019 NFL Draft, Ta’amu signed with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent.

Although he’s bounced around some practice squads, Ta’amu still has never made a regular-season roster in the NFL.

Ta’amu also played for the St. Louis BattleHawks during the 2020 XFL season before moving to the USFL to play for the Tampa Bay Bandits in 2022. With the Defenders this season, he threw for 1,894 yards and 14 touchdowns during the 2023 season.

At Ole Miss, Ta’amu threw for 3,918 yards and rushed for 342 yards as a senior. He led the SEC in both passing yards per game and total offense.

Ta’amu making NFL return

After his successful season with the Defenders, the former Rebel made his goal for the offseason very clear: Make an NFL comeback.

“My goal is to get back in the (NFL),” Ta’amu said. “I’ll come back in the XFL if that’s where my path leads. Just to finish this year with 10 games in the regular season and then the playoffs and championship game, shout-out to the owners and everyone in this league just making this league look very professional.

“I could tell from training camp this league was going to jump and it still is.”

Minnesota appears set to have Kirk Cousins as its starter again this coming season and has two backups on the roster in Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall, who was the Vikings’ fifth-round draft pick this year out of BYU.

However, the NFL approved a new rule that allows teams to carry two backup quarterbacks on the active roster, meaning Minnesota could be looking for another backup.

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.