Vikings officially sign versatile guard Easton

The Minnesota Vikings have signed restricted free agent Nick Easton, the team announced Monday, bringing back their versatile offensive lineman that started 12 games last season.



Easton has played at left guard, right guard and center in his two seasons with Minnesota.

After playing four seasons at Harvard, Easton originally signed as an undrafted free agent with Baltimore in 2015 but was traded in September of that year to San Francisco. A month later, the 49ers dealt him and a 2016 sixth-round pick to Minnesota in exchange for linebacker Gerald Hodges.

The Vikings now have four of their five starters in the trenches back for next season: Easton, Pat Elflein, Riley Reiff and Mike Remmers. Minnesota now just needs to find a replacement for Joe Berger, who played 16 games at center and guard for the Vikings last season but elected to retire in the offseason.