With the offseason program in full swing, the Minnesota Vikings’ roster is at capacity as the team tries to create as much healthy competition as possible, even if they know that the chances of some of these players making the final 53-man list are slim. That’s especially true for specialists they brought in to compete with the incumbent starters.
Here’s a pop quiz for ya: Without Googling it, can you name the punter the Vikings signed last offseason to compete with Ryan Wright?
If you guessed Seth Vernon within five seconds, then congratulations! You need to go outside and touch grass, because you know way too much about Vikings football for your own good.
For the rest of you who didn’t know the answer offhand, it makes sense why you completely forgot about Seth Vernon. The Vikings waived him along with wide receiver Ty James in a corresponding transaction after the team signed Stephon Gilmore and receiver Justin Hall in the middle of August.
That’s why I wouldn’t blame anyone for overlooking the addition of punter Oscar Chapman. At first glance, he’s in the same exact situation Vernon was in last offseason. The Vikings brought both in as competition for Wright, and neither were favorites to make the 53-man roster.
Neither Vernon nor Chapman was among the top-seven punters in their respective classes. Drafttek didn’t rank either among their top punters of the 2024 draft or the 2025 draft. However, Chapman has one advantage over Vernon: He doesn’t count against the roster.
The International Player Pathway Program is an initiative designed to help increase the number of players from outside the United States playing in the NFL. Each team can sign one IPP player during the offseason to get their roster up to 91 players. After training camp, IPP players are subject to the same rules as regular players. Either they must be waived and signed to the practice squad, or they count against the final 53-man roster. If an IPP player is signed to the practice squad, they can only be elevated a maximum of three times.
After three practice-squad elevations, the practice-squad player must be signed to the active roster if the team wants to use them again. Teams used to be able to elevate quarterbacks from the practice squad to the active roster an unlimited number of times, but the NFLPA nixed that rule completely. So, there is no possible way to bend the rules and carry a “54th man” who doesn’t count against the 53-man roster. That doesn’t bode well for Chapman’s chances of making the roster in 2025.
Wright is still the better player. He’s entering his fourth season as Minnesota’s starting punter and beat out veteran Jordan Berry in training camp as a rookie. Wright has pre-existing chemistry as a holder with second-year kicker Will Reichard, which gives him the inside track to beat out Chapman for the starting job.
However, there is still a sliver of hope for Chapman and his future with the Minnesota Vikings. Maybe his addition is less about the 2025 season and more about 2026 and beyond. Wright signed a one-year contract extension this offseason and is set to be a free agent in 2026.
By signing an international prospect, the Vikings are creating a stress-free environment where Chapman can benefit from a redshirt year while building chemistry with Will Reichard and Andrew DePaola without impacting the practice squad. If Chapman were American, there’s no way the Vikings would waste a valuable practice squad spot on him a year before they need a punter.
Granted, there’s no guarantee that Chapman sticks around into 2026. Punters are a dime a dozen in the NFL, and the Vikings aren’t likely to overly invest in a prospect they don’t view as the best available option.
However, the International Player Program is working exactly as the league intended. It allows international prospects like Chapman to develop without the pressure of earning a coveted roster spot. Ultimately, the roster exemption gives Chapman more of a fighting chance than Vernon to build chemistry and potentially make the 53-man roster.