The Vikings' decision to sign wide receiver Hank Baskett on Wednesday meant they had to trim a player from their 53-man roster.

It's likely the two position groups they considered were tight end (they had four) and defensive line (they had 10). Seventh-round tight end Mickey Shuler was placed on waivers and then the Vikings held their breath. The hope was Shuler would clear waivers at 3 p.m. today and then be signed to the practice squad.

It didn't happen.

The Dolphins, Giants and Colts all put in waiver claims on Shuler. He was awarded to the Dolphins because until the end of this month claims will be awarded based on the record a team had in 2009.

It sounds as if Vikings officials weren't happy at all about losing Shuler. It was a surprise when the Penn State product made the 53-man roster out of training camp but that showed just how much the Vikings thought about him. That show of faith probably didn't help the Vikings' cause when they tried to get him through waivers.

Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see if the Vikings show any interest in reacquiring offensive tackle Patrick Brown, who was waived by the Jets on Thursday. Brown was let go by the Vikings in final cuts and coach Brad Childress said at the time he would have liked to have signed him to the practice squad.

If Brown passes through waivers and isn't put on a team's 53-man roster, there is a chance he could land back in Minnesota on the practice squad after all.