Vikings re-sign 39-year-old Terence Newman, NFL’s oldest on defense

EAGAN, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings have re-signed cornerback Terence Newman, bringing the NFL’s oldest active defensive player back for a 16th season that will begin five days after he turns 40.

Newman, who has played the last three years with the Vikings, has 42 career interceptions to lead all active players in the league. With Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes the starters on the outside, Newman and Mackensie Alexander remain the primary options to play the slot in the nickel defense. The Vikings also drafted Mike Hughes out of Central Florida in the first round Thursday.

The Vikings exercised the fifth-year contract option on Waynes, too, on a busy Monday.

The NFL announced that practice squad wide receiver Cayleb Jones has been suspended for the first four games of the regular season for violating the performance-enhancing substances policy, the second Vikings player to do so this month. Backup linebacker Kentrell Brothers also got a four-game ban.

Finally, the Vikings signed 17 college free agents, including South Dakota State wide receiver Jake Wieneke, a Minnesota native.

Wieneke, who played at Maple Grove High School, is the sixth Minnesotan on the roster, joining wide receivers Adam Thielen and Brandon Zylstra, guard Tom Compton, punt returner Marcus Sherels and fullback C.J. Ham.