Minnesota Vikings Rumors: Charles Johnson, Mike Wallace Force Cordarrelle Patterson Trade as Stefon Diggs Improves with Teddy Bridgewater, Adrian Peterson?

Jun 25, 2015 12:23 PM EDT
Charles Johnson
Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Charles Johnson runs for yards after the catch during a 2014 game."

The Minnesota Vikings are entering this season with a lot of confidence. They finally have the stability at the quarterback position with Teddy Bridgewater and Adrian Peterson has returned to the field. While Bridgewater and Peterson are the guaranteed stars of the offense, there is a battle brewing at the wide receiver position to become the top threat for the quarterback. After adding a slew of talent on the sides, is someone at risk of not making the 32-man  roster?

One of the players the Vikings are getting more and more excited about is Charles Johnson who took over as a starter towards the end of 2014 after being plucked off the Cleveland Browns practice squad. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Johnson is predicted as the No.1 threat on offense for Bridgewater, but that is not causing him to be complacent heading into the break before training camp.

"In this business, you're never secure," Johnson told Master Tesfatsion of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "You never want to lie down and say, 'Hey, I made it.' I'm always working, and we're always working together. Nobody here has been handed anything, and we're just ready to come out here and work and become the best players we can be."

Johnson joins Mike Wallace as the presumed one-two punch alongside Peterson for Bridgewater, so who gets the No.3 nod on Week 1? Jarius Wright is emerging as a favorite amongst the coaching staff along with the newly drafted Stefon Diggs. The biggest question for the Vikings will be the future of Cordarrelle Patterson with those players excelling on the field. The Vikings opted not to draft a player like DeVante Parker, putting their faith in Patterson to improve. The wide receiver has admitted that the pressure is on this season. If Patterson does not truly improve, he is at risk of being traded or released sooner rather than later.

"He's in the mix. In my mind, he's in the mix," offensive coordinator Norv Turner said, via Star Tribune. "I told our guys that when we start our games I hope we have 16 starters. You can only put 11 on the field at a time. But if we can get to where we are playing multiple people and giving defenses different looks and we have a lot of people contributing, it makes us much harder to defend."

This training camp is crucial for Patterson. If he is left out of the mix he could be kissing his NFL career goodbye. After two slumping seasons following being a first-round draft pick, the ice is thin for the receiver moving forward. 

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