The Minnesota Vikings lost a significantly underrated part of their offense on Sunday, and the fear is that he could be out for a long time. . .potentially for the remainder of the season.
Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network is reporting that the Vikings believe that tight
end Josh Oliver may have suffered a torn bicep in Sunday’s victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and that the injury may require surgery. If that’s the case, he could be out indefinitely.
Oliver has been one of the best blocking tight ends in football for quite a while now, and signed a new three-year contract extension with the team in 2025. If the Vikings are without him for any length of time, it will impact a running game that has already had its issues through the first three weeks of the season.
In Oliver’s absence, the role of the second tight end would likely be filled by Gavin Bartholomew. Bartholomew was the Vikings’ seventh-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, but did not play at all in his rookie season while dealing with a back injury that left him on the Physically Unable to Perform List for the majority of the year. Bartholomew has played just four snaps on offense through the first three games this season.
The Vikings also have former Cincinnati Bengals tight end Cam Grandy on the practice squad, though Grandy has mostly been a special teamer to this point in his NFL career.
Here’s hoping that the injury to Josh Oliver isn’t as severe as the Vikings are fearing that it is and he’ll be back in the fold sooner rather than later.
