The Minnesota Vikings signed running back Audric Estime to their practice squad on Wednesday, adding a proven college workhorse and NFL depth piece as they continue to shuffle the backfield, the team announced.
The move was part of a larger practice-squad package that also included running back Devin Neal, punter Johnny Hekker and two other players.
Estime, 23, is a 5-foot-11, 227-pound power back out of Notre Dame who was selected by the Denver Broncos in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft (147th overall).
He is best remembered in South Bend for a 2023 season that still sits near the top of the Irish record book: 210 carries, 1,341 rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns.
Those 18 scores set Notre Dame’s single-season rushing-touchdown record, passing the 17 shared by Allen Pinkett (1984) and Vagas Ferguson (1979).
He earned Associated Press second-team All-America honors that year and finished his college career with 2,321 rushing yards and 29 rushing touchdowns in 37 games.
The NFL path has been more itinerant. Estime appeared in 13 games as a rookie for Denver, rushing 76 times for 310 yards and two touchdowns.
Cut in 2025, he spent time on the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad before landing in New Orleans. With the Saints he played seven games in 2025, adding 46 carries for 198 yards and a touchdown plus 12 receptions for 103 yards.
New Orleans waived him from injured reserve on Sept. 22 with an injury settlement after a thigh issue. The Vikings hosted him for a workout Tuesday before signing him a day later.
Minnesota’s running-back room has been in flux. Jordan Mason is on injured reserve, DeeJay Dallas was elevated and signed to the 53-man roster earlier in the month, and the team released Jaret Patterson and Jerome Ford from the practice squad on Tuesday.
Estime gives Kevin O’Connell’s staff a compact, physical runner who can handle between-the-tackles work and has shown enough receiving ability to stay on the field on passing downs.
Practice-squad signings rarely guarantee playing time, but they do buy a team cheap insurance and a chance to evaluate a player against its own scheme.
For Estime, it is another opportunity to prove the production that once rewrote Notre Dame’s record book can translate on Sundays.
For the Vikings, it is a low-risk addition of a young back who already knows how to find the end zone.
