3 Vikings players that may have lost their jobs on Saturday vs. Browns

The Minnesota Vikings are in a great position after their second preseason game. They handled the Cleveland Browns by a score of 27-12. The Vikings held a 13-7 lead at halftime and controlled the game after the first quarter.

There were a lot of Vikings players who thrived during the game against the Browns. Safety Lewis Cine , cornerback Dwight McGlothern and running back Kene Nwangwu all thrived and staked their claim for a roster spot.

On the other hand, there were players who stood out in a negative way. These three might have played their way off the 53-man roster.

WR Trent Sherfield

When the Vikings signed Sherfield, my initial thought was that he was the WR3 for this team. Sherfield had experience as a WR3 in his career, most recently in 2022 with the Miami Dolphins. Not only was Sherfield a good player on offense, he thrived on special teams.

On Saturday, Sherfield struggled on offense. He caught just one pass for 23 yards on four targets and has struggled throughout training camp to catch the ball. The difficult part for Sherfield is that multiple receivers have stood out in a big way, including Trishton Jackson and Jalen Nailor. The Vikings also have a multitude of players who can be a good gunner, making Sherfield even more expendable.

S Bobby McCain

The defensive back room has been a tumultuous one for the Vikings. They have lost multiple players for the year and even traded away Andrew Booth Jr. The signing of McCain was made in response to both Mekhi Blackmon and Shaquill Griffin going down with injuries. It felt weird at the time due to McCain mainly being a safety who can go into the slot.

McCain has struggled so far and it manifested itself against the Browns. He struggled to both cover and tackle. Not a great day to struggle when Cine had his best performance as a professional football player.

CB/S Jay Ward

Speaking of safeties that have struggled, Ward is firmly in that boat. Now, it's not necessarily fair to him, as the Vikings have been playing him at outside cornerback. It wasn't his main position in college, but he did play it over 100 snaps in his final collegiate season at LSU.

Putting Ward on the outside was an experiment worth trying considering the depth at safety and lack of depth at cornerback. The experiment hasn't worked out well and that's a problem for Ward. He just doesn't have the instincts to play on the outside and it's been rough for him. Pair that with his tackling issues and you have a player who could be released one year after being a fourth-round pick.

Related: Vikings thrive on offense: Kene Nwangwu and Trishton Jackson stand out vs. Browns