The Minnesota Vikings aren’t releasing many updates from their facilities right now, but one of the guys they drafted last month had a significant milestone today.
Khyree Jackson, a cornerback, signed a rookie deal with the team, the team said. As a result, five of the team’s seven draft selections are now formally bound by contracts.
In the selection meeting held last month, Jackson was selected by the Vikings in the fourth round out of the University of Oregon. His path to this point has been an intriguing one, having left his first community college and taken a job at a grocery in Maryland.
After giving up football for two years, he ended up attending Fort Scott Community College in 2019. Following his playing career at East Mississippi Community College, he transferred to the University of Alabama.
He left the Crimson Tide after two seasons and moved to Oregon, where in his last season with the Ducks, he was named to the First Team of the Pac-12.
Jackson, who is 6’4″, is unquestionably a bigger corner. In Minnesota, he’ll join a defensive backfield that is largely inexperienced, so maybe he can make an immediate impact.
Following Jackson’s signing, the team’s two first-round picks—edge defender Dallas Turner and quarterback J.J. McCarthy—are the only players who haven’t signed rookie contracts.
Those contracts will probably be finalized soon because there isn’t much space for negotiation.
Kudos to Khyree Jackson for securing his first NFL deal!
