Vikings Signing LBs Jihad Ward & Kamu Grugier-Hill

Minnesota hosted Ward for a visit on Tuesday and quickly got a deal done. 

Ward, 29, is a former second-round pick of the Raiders back in 2016. He was in the third year of his four-year, $5.539 million contract when the Raiders traded him to the Cowboys for WR Ryan Switzer.

Dallas wound up waiving Ward coming out of the 2018 preseason and he later signed on with the Colts. After being released by Indianapolis, Ward signed on with the Ravens and returned to Baltimore in 2020 on a new deal.

Ward signed with the Jaguars as an unrestricted free agent in 2021, then landed with the Giants on a one-year deal in 2022. New York brought him back on a one-year contract last year. 

In 2023, Jihad Ward appeared in all 17 games for the Giants and recorded 24 tackles, five sacks, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble.

Grugier-Hill, 29, is a former sixth-round pick of the Patriots back in 2016. He lasted just a few months in New England before he was waived and later claimed by the Eagles.

Grugier-Hill finished the final year of his four-year, $2.61 million contract and made a base salary of $720,000 for the 2019 season before signing a one-year contract with the Dolphins. 

He later signed a one-year deal with the Texans for the 2021 season and opted to re-sign with them once again last offseason on another one-year contract. However, the team released him midseason and he finished out the season with the Cardinals. The Panthers signed him to a one-year deal last offseason. 

In 2023, Grugier-Hill appeared in all 17 games for the Panthers and recorded 56 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, one interception, and two pass defenses.