Vikings waive former Clemson cornerback after scuffle at practice

The Minnesota Vikings waived former Clemson defensive back Bashaud Breeland on Saturday afternoon. He got into a verbal altercation with his coaches, took off his cleats, and got into it with multiple teammates who were trying to calm the situation, according to people who spoke with NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport.

Breeland has started all 13 games this season for Minnesota. He was questionable on the injury report for Monday night’s game against the Chicago Bears. Once the news broke Saturday afternoon, Breeland responded on his Twitter page with one word: “Wow.”

A few hours later, Breeland took to Twitter to apologize to the Vikings, “I wanna appreciate the Vikings for the opportunity they game no hard feelings no love lost. #17familia #Swilyfe #New17.”

Breeland had been having a rough season on-the-field for the Vikings, PFF ranked him 117th out of 119 qualifying cornerbacks. He’s also had some issues off-the-field. Breeland sent out an obscene tweet in October, and he’s got a civil suit against him for allegedly continuing to smoke marijuana at his apartment complex, according to Chris Tomasson.

Different reports on the altercation between Breeland and Vikings players

Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis-Star Tribune reported on Twitter that the fight between Breeland and the other players at practice today started out as friendly trash talk between players. But it escalated to the point where Vikings general manager Rick Spielman had to step in.

Courtney Cronin of ESPN reported that the situation began between the cornerback and a coach in a defensive meeting room. There was tension between the coach and Breeland, but that died down when they went to go to the practice field. Things got worse again when he was on the field with the starters, but he was then told to come out of the lineup.

He was on the sideline for a little bit and he wasn’t put back in, so he decided to go to the locker room and take his cleats off. Breeland then came back to the practice field where the verbal altercation between him, his teammates, and the coaches took place.

That’s when Spielman eventually got involved, took Breeland up to his office for further discussion, where he was then released.

The Vikings‘ secondary has gotten torched this year. Thus far in 2021, they’ve allowed 251 yards passing per game, ranking them 26th in the league.

Where will he go?

This is Breeland’s eighth year in the NFL, and he’s had 16 interceptions in 101 games during his career. Maybe he’ll look to return to Kansas City, where they could use him for secondary depth for the playoffs. Breeland spent both the 2019 and 2020 seasons in Kansas City, so he’s got a past with the franchise.

Regardless of the altercation, he’s likely to land somewhere with another team in the NFL. Plenty of teams will need another corner, especially a veteran corner with his experience.