Vikings cut Fruechte

Vikings plan to sign Caledonia native to practice squad

It appears that, just under an hour before the NFL final cut deadline, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver, Isaac Fruechte, has been released.

That, according to Vikings beat reporter with the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Matt Vensel.  Minnesota has said it plans to add Fruechte to the practice squad Sunday, according to Chris Tomasson with the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

The NFL 53-man roster deadline is 3 p.m. today. The 6-foot-3, 202-pound wide receiver finished preseason for Minnesota with six receptions for 49 yards, including catching all three passes he was thrown for 21 yards in Thursday’s preseason finale with the Tennessee Titans.

Fruechte is a 2010 Caledonia (Minn.) High School graduate, who went on to play for the University of Minnesota after one year at Rochester Community Technical College (Minn.) to get his grades up. 

His original plan was to walk on for the Golden Gophers and earn a scholarship, but, the route he took proved just as well. After a 29-catch, 788-yard, eight-touchdown season with RCTC, the Gophers offered Fruechte a scholarship.

At Minnesota, Fruechte had just 18 receptions for 292 yards and one touchdown his senior year, but was named the Gophers wide receiver of the year. His sophomore season – his first season at the U of M – was his best, statistically, going for 19-256-2 TDs. Junior year, when he was an Academic All-Big Ten, Fruechte had 13-154-0.

Like his route to the Gophers, Fruechte’s run on the team was a bit of a roller coaster, as he saw passes from four different quarterbacks (MarQueis Gray, Max Shortell, Philip Nelson and Mitch Leidner).

At Caledonia, Fruechte was part of two state championships (2007, 2008). 

On May 11, the Vikings signed Fruechte as an undrafted, rookie free agent, and he became the second player from Caledonia to be on an NFL team. Former teammate Karl Klug, a 2006 graduate, who went on to play for Iowa, is currently in his fifth season for the Tennessee Titans, having just signed a two-year, $3.2 million contract this offseason.