Eden Prarie, MN (SportsNetwork.com) – The Minnesota Vikings claimed running
back Ben Tate off waivers from the Cleveland Browns Wednesday.
Tate was cut by Cleveland on Tuesday.
Tate signed with the Browns as a free agent in March after spending his first
three seasons with Houston. He started six games and has rushed for just 333
yards with a 3.1-yard average and four touchdowns so far this season.
A knee injury in the season opener at Pittsburgh forced him to miss the next
two games and his performance declined. The emergence of rookies Terrance
West and Isaiah Crowell also factored into the decision to cut Tate.
Tate ran for 771 yards with four touchdowns and caught 34 passes for 140 yards
in 14 games last season and had a banner rookie campaign in 2011 with 942
yards in 15 games. The 26-year-old Auburn product has 2,325 rushing yards and
14 touchdowns in 48 NFL games.
Minnesota’s signing of Tate came on the heels of learning Tuesday that Adrian
Peterson would be suspended for the remainder of the 2014 season for
violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
The suspension, without pay, stems from the abusive discipline Peterson
inflicted on his 4-year-old son last May. He was charged with reckless or
negligent injury to a child in Texas earlier this year, then pled no contest
to a lesser charge on Nov. 4 and avoided jail time.
In addition, the Vikings waived tight end MarQueis Gray.
