Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Rondale Moore got heartbreaking news this week.
The Vikings announced Tuesday he’ll miss the 2025 season with a left-knee injury that he sustained during Saturday’s preseason game against the Houston Texans. Moore will now miss the entirety of a second consecutive season.
Moore previously sustained a season-ending injury to his right knee during a preseason practice in 2024 as a member of the Atlanta Falcons. The Vikings didn’t disclose the precise nature of his injury, but noted that it is “season-ending.”
[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]
Moore last played in an NFL game in Week 18 of the 2023 season with the Arizona Cardinals. He won’t play in another until the 2026 season, at the earliest.
Moore, 25, has played three NFL seasons since being selected in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft, all of them with the Arizona Cardinals. He was slated to return punts and work as a backup wide receiver for the Vikings this season.
Moore played in 39 games, including 23 starts in Arizona from 2021-23. He’s tallied 135 catches for 1,201 yards yards and three touchdowns in the NFL. He’s also carried the ball 28 times for 178 yards (6.4 ypc) and a touchdown. As a returner, Moore has returned 22 punts for 182 yards (8.3 ypr) and 13 kicks for 291 yards (22.4 ypr).
Moore sustained the injury while returning a punt in the second quarter of Saturday’s game. He was tackled from behind by Houston linebacker Jamal Hill and immediately clutched his knee in pain. Trainers tended to Moore on the field. Moore eventually left the field on a cart with a towel draped over his head.
#Vikings WR Rondale Moore has been ruled OUT with a leg injury. He was carted off the field after being tackled on a punt return. pic.twitter.com/M2y4EFuekb
— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) August 9, 2025
After the game, Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell called Moore’s injury “pretty significant” and announced that he would undergo an MRI to diagnose it.
Moore signed with the Vikings in the offseason on a one-year, $2 million contract with $250,000 guaranteed. His injury will leave the Vikings in search of a punt return specialist and depth at wide receiver behind starters Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Addison will start the season serving a three-game suspension due to a plea deal connected to a DUI arrest from 2024.
