Hercules Mata’afa was unable to break into a shallow defensive tackle rotation, and the Vikings decided to move on from the third-year defensive tackle on Tuesday.
Mata’afa was waived to make room for third-year defensive end Jordan Brailford, who was signed off Washington’s practice squad. Brailford is the fifth defensive end on the Vikings active roster, joining Yannick Ngakoue, Ifeadi Odenigbo, Jalyn Holmes and D.J. Wonnum.
Mata’afa was a hyper-productive college player at Washington, being named PAC-12 Defensive Player of the Year after leading the conference with 21.5 tackles for losses in 2017. The 2018 undrafted signing appeared in nine games after tearing his ACL before his rookie season.