TE · MIN · 29 yrs · exp 7 · San Jose State
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Latest: Sep 5, 2026 · 805
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Oliver was participating in the Vikings' training camp activities Saturday. Oliver ended the 2025 season with an ankle injury during the Vikings' Week 18 victory over the Packers. The tight end was photographed practicing with the team in training camp and is all set to resume his role as the No. 2 option behind T.J. Hockenson
Sleeper status change for Josh Oliver (5973). Before: status=Active, injury_status=Questionable. After: status=Active, injury_status=
It’s getting closer, folks. We’re about three weeks or so from the start of training camp for the Minnesota Vikings, and that means the lists are getting more and more prevalent around the sports media world. We’ve gotten a set of roster rankings to chew on, and if you’re trying to find the purple on it, you’re going to have to do a bit of scrolling before you find our favorite team. ESPN has ranked the rosters of all 32 teams from best to worst, and they have our squad ranked at #22. That’s not really where we’re accustomed to seeing them, to be honest, and it’s a bit of a shock to see them that low. Let’s break down what they have to say about the Vikings, shall we? Biggest strength : Pass catchers. Receivers Justin Jefferson , Jordan Addison and newcomer Jauan Jennings and tight end T.J. Hockenson form a terrific group of targets for whoever wins the QB job. Even in a down season (no fault of his own), Jefferson delivered his sixth consecutive season with 1,000-plus receiving yards in 2025 and remains arguably the league’s best wide receiver. Addison produced 875-plus receiving yards and nine-plus TDs in his first two seasons before the QB woes of 2025. Jennings broke out in 2024 with the 49ers and has a 132-1,618-15 receiving line over the past two seasons. Hockenson’s stats have been down the past two seasons, but the 29-year-old remains one of the league’s best two-way tight ends. It’s hard to argue this one. Jefferson and Addison were already one of the league’s best duos, and adding a player of Jennings’ caliber to be WR3 just gives the team an embarrassment of riches at the wide receiver position. Hockenson hasn’t been quite the same player since his knee injury, but he still has the ability to be an above-average tight end and can still present as a significant red zone thread. Josh Oliver , who isn’t mentioned in the ESPN breakdown, has also been a lot better than advertised as a pass catcher, in my opinion, and his blocking ability allows him to stay on the field and get more opportunities than a more traditional blocking tight end might otherwise get. Biggest weakness : Running back. It was a bit surprising that Minnesota did little to address this position after its running backs finished 30th in both rushing yards and scrimmage yards last season. Aaron Jones Sr . has been solid throughout his career, but he’s entering his age-31 season and ranked dead last among 65 qualified backs in forced missed tackle rate. Jordan Mason is an effective rusher (career 5.1 YPC) but isn’t a receiving option (28 career receptions). Undersized sixth-rounder Demond Claiborne was the team’s only offseason addition of note. Again, it’s a bit hard to disagree here. I know that Aaron Jones has been a warrior during his time here, but he’s starting to slow down a bit and really can’t be counted on to be a lead guy anymore. He’s going to work in tandem with Mason, who is a very good power runner and should be the primary goal-line option. Of course, given that this team seems to be allergic to running the ball inside the 10-yard line, that really doesn’t mean as much as it might on most teams. It’s going to be interesting to see what Claiborne brings to the table in this offense. He should get plenty of opportunities, and the team clearly liked him a lot in the pre-draft process. Hopefully he can force his way onto the field early. X factor for 2026 : Interior offensive line. Will Fries struggled last season at guard after signing a big free agent contract , with a sixth percentile pass block win rate. But he boasts upside, as does fellow guard Donovan Jackson , Minnesota’s first-round draft pick in 2025. Blake Brandel played 347 snaps at center last season in his first time playing the position in the NFL. He is expected to start there again in 2026. How those three players improve could play a big role in how much offensive success the Vikings have this season. Seriously, this could have been a copy-and-paste from any year for a [... truncated ...]
Steelers general manager Omar Khan has been focusing on extending his successful 2023 draft class recently, giving us plenty of new contracts to grade. Recently, we talked about the risk and reward of outside linebacker Nick Herbig’s recent four-year, $100 million contract . Now, let’s do the same for Darnell Washington’s four-year, $42 million deal. You can read the full financial details here . Ultimately, Washington carries a small, $3.47 million cap hit in 2026. Then, from 2027-2030, it stays in the $10 million range. With less than half the deal’s total worth guaranteed, Washington’s yearly dead cap hit sits at $8 million in 2027, dropping $2 million in each following season. It’s not financially crippling for the team in the least. With the new deal, Washington is now the 13th highest-paid in the league at his position with a $10.5 million yearly average, still well below the 49ers ’ George Kittle ’s NFL-leading $19.5 million. Even Washington’s fellow Pittsburgh tight end Pat Freiermuth makes more, with the 10th-highest yearly average at $12.1 million, per Spotrac . Washington hasn’t been the most productive receiver over his time in the pros, but he is coming off a career-best 31-catch, 364-yard season in 2025, including one touchdown. He was the team’s most-played tight end on offense, narrowly out-snapping both Pat Freiermuth and Jonnu Smith . Of course, where Washington’s true value lies is as a blocker, where he is the rare talent who can hold up against defensive ends one-on-one thanks to his sheer size and strength at 6’7 and a weight that likely sits at or near the 300-pound range. A lumbering mover as a route runner who dropped four passes in 2025, Washington’s upside as a receiving weapon may be limited, even if he still is a freakish mover for his size. But even as a pure blocking tight end, his contract value is fair — the Vikings signed Josh Oliver , one of the best blocking tight ends in the league, to a $7.75 million per year contract in 2025, and the value of such players has just continued to rise. Look at the 2026 draft class ! Plus, the tight ends still making more than Washington include good-not-great names such as Evan Engram , Cole Kmet , and Isaiah Likely . Their roles in their respective offenses may not be the most comparable, but names such as Likely and Kmet have similarly not always been the primary tight end on their teams. All that to say, the Steelers got a reasonable value for Washington. My only concerns lie with potential for injury, and how Washington will be used in the Steelers’ new offense under Mike McCarthy. Washington had knee concerns coming out of the draft in 2023, which was the likely reason why he fell to Pittsburgh in the third round. However, in the NFL he’s been incredibly durable, playing in all but one regular season game through his first three years in the league. Still, with his size, it remains a bit of a concern moving forward. Then, there’s the question of if Washington’s skill set will still be used as well as it was in Arthur Smith’s 2025 Steelers offense. With Mike McCarthy likely to prioritize more 11 personnel (one tight end) moving forward, it will be interesting to see if Pittsburgh can maximize its investments in both Washington and Freiermuth, especially considering the latter is the more dynamic receiving target. But if anything, the Steelers’ decision to lock up Washington long term signals the team is both confident in his health and sees him a key piece of the offense moving forward. And why wouldn’t they? He’s a force multiplier in the run game who’s still a threat to ruin a defensive back’s day while gaining yards after catch in the open field. Like with Nick Herbig ’s contract, we’ll reserve the “A” for true slam-dunk deals and bargains. This contract still comes with some question marks. But it’s another strong B+ for one of the most fun players on the current Steelers’ roster. How would you grade the Steelers’ Darnell Washington ex [... truncated ...]
Oliver enters the first season of his three-year extension with the Vikings as the clear backup to No. 1 TE T.J. Hockenson. Across 15 regular-season appearances in 2025, Oliver translated that role into a 15-160-4 line on 19 targets, though in 2024 he managed 22-258-3 due to Hockenson managing injuries. Oliver (6-5, 264 pounds) is mostly utilized as a blocker by Minnesota's offense, but he boasts red-zone upside whenever Hockenson is out of the lineup
Josh Oliver caught two passes for 29 yards in Minnesota's 16-3 win over Green Bay on Sunday. Oliver caught at least two passes for just the fourth time this season and his 29 yards receiving on Sunday was his second-highest total of the season. He finished the year with 15 catches for 160 yards and a career-high four scores
Minnesota Vikings tight end Josh Oliver (ankle) has been ruled out for the remainder of his team's Week 18 matchup against the Green Bay Packers after suffering an ankle injury. Oliver recorded two catches for 29 yards on two targets before exiting the game. The 28-year-old will finish the 2025 season with 15 catches for 160 yards and four touchdowns on 19 targets across 15 games played. Minnesota entered the game already without tight end T.J. Hockenson (shoulder), so the team is now working without its top two players at the position. Without Hockenson and Oliver, the Vikings will likely rely on tight ends Ben Yurosek and Ben Sims for the remainder of Week 18
Oliver won't return to Sunday's game against the Packers due to an ankle injury. Prior to his exit in the third quarter, Oliver had two catches (on two targets) for 29 yards, which is a bit of a disappointment considering he was filling in for inactive No. 1 TE T.J. Hockenson (shoulder). Oliver will finish the 2025 campaign with a 15-160-4 on 19 targets in 15 regular-season games. He's under contract with the Vikings in 2026
Oliver is set to operate as the Vikings' starting tight end during Sunday's season finale against the Packers with T.J. Hockenson (shoulder) ruled out for Week 18, Dane Mizutani of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. Oliver played 93 percent of offensive snaps during Minnesota's win over the Lions in Week 17 with Hockenson sidelined, though he was unable to rack up much production in that contest with fill-in quarterback Max Brosmer being limited to 51 passing yards. With J.J. McCarthy (hand) having been cleared to return to the starting lineup this weekend and the Packers expected to rest multiple key starters, Oliver will have a solid chance to close out the 2025 campaign on a positive note. While predominantly a blocker, Oliver has logged a career-high four touchdowns across 14 regular-season appearances in 2025, and he figures to be one of McCarthy's top targets in the red zone Week 18
Oliver brought in one of two targets for eight yards during Thursday's 23-10 win over Detroit. Oliver got the chance to start Christmas Day with T.J. Hockenson (shoulder) inactive, but that didn't result in him drawing many opportunities due to Thursday's unorthodox game script. Max Brosmer drew the start with J.J. McCarthy (hand) sidelined and only piled up 51 passing yards while the Vikings defense paved the way to a victory. If Hockenson remains sidelined Week 18 versus the Packers but McCarthy manages to retake the field and revitalize Minnesota's passing offense, Oliver will carry limited fantasy value in deeper formats
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