The fan base for the Vikings stretches well beyond Minnesota

Red Dexter Lawrence Jersey , with strongholds in North Dakota, South Dakota and parts of Iowa.It crosses the Canadian border, too. Just ask Brett Jones.Acquired in a trade with the New York Giants to help shore up a shaky interior of the offensive line, Jones joined the Vikings for practice on Monday after his completed physical exam consummated the deal. He smiled as he spoke afterward about the whirlwind he'd experienced as the final week of the preseason began, when the Giants pulled him off the field during drills on Sunday. Then the Vikings called him to arrange his travel."I was pretty surprised," Jones said, "and excited at the same time."As a youth on the Saskatchewan prairie, Jones rooted for the Vikings long before playing for them became a reality."There's a lot of purple up there," he said. "Growing up, this was probably the closest stadium we could get to."As an 18-year-old 2019 Dexter Lawrence Jersey , Jones even bought a Phil Loadholt jersey to wear his devotion after the Vikings drafted him in the second round out of Oklahoma in 2009. He traveled south to watch a game that season against the Cincinnati Bengals at the now-demolished Metrodome."I just liked offensive linemen, and I didn't think anybody else would have that jersey so I picked that one," Jones said.After attending Regina University, Jones was the CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman award winner in 2014, his second year with the Calgary Stampeders.The Giants signed him in 2015, and he made his first NFL start at left guard in 2016. The 6-foot-2, 312-pound Jones started 13 games last season at center, but he fell behind Jon Halapio on the depth chart in training camp this summer and carried a $2.914 million salary the tight-against-the-cap Giants had to shed.The Vikings have scouted the CFL thoroughly over the past few years. Wide receiver Brandon Zylstra is a fellow CFL alum in training camp."It was a unique path. It was the only option I had," Jones said. "Coming out of college I was short, and I'm still short today Dexter Lawrence NFL Draft , so it was tough for me. I had to prove that I could play by playing in the CFL, and then when I got to the NFL I had to prove I belong here. I've just been doing that each and every day."With center Pat Elflein still not back at practice following offseason ankle and shoulder surgeries and left guard Nick Easton likely out for the year with a neck injury, Jones was a welcomed addition. Joe Berger retired after starting at right guard last season."On tape he's pretty good. He's stout, strong, really gritty, good in pass protection, solid on the double teams," coach Mike Zimmer said. The 2019 quarterback class has gained one more intriguing option.On the last day for underclassmen to declare for the NFL Draft, Oklahoma quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray officially threw his name into the ring.This was expected by many, including the Oakland A’s Color Rush Deandre Baker Jersey , who drafted Murray ninth overall in the MLB Draft over the summer. Declaring for the NFL Draft does not mean Murray has to be 100 percent committed to the NFL, but if he wanted to keep that option open, he had to declare by Monday’s deadline. However, it does seem like Murray wants to play football — he already chose to play football for free for a season while already having a signed baseball contract — and he’ll need to be swayed to continue with baseball.There were reports over the weekend that the A’s and Murray had been discussing terms that would give him a major league worthy contract to stick with baseball and that MLB would allow it, even though it’s against the rules for draftees.In reality, we’ll know more about Murray’s situation as Spring Training and the NFL Combine get closer and the timeline to choose gets shorter. This is not the final detail in the Murray story, but it is the first step.We’ll talk about Murray much more in the upcoming months. Our Big Blue Big Board podcast on Friday started to dive into what Murray declaring could mean for the Giants.