The Vikings are promoting safety Ahmad Dixon from the practice squad. He will fill the open roster spot created yesterday when the team waived offensive tackle J'Marcus Webb.

Dixon, a rookie, started the season with the Cowboys, who drafted him in the seventh round. He made the team out of training camp, but was waived in September, reportedly because he had been late for a couple of team activities.

He has since spent time with the Vikings, the Bears, the Dolphins and the Vikings again. He only played in an NFL game for the Bears, getting special-teams snaps in five games for them.

"I think he's a talented guy," head coach Mike Zimmer said today. "He's been bouncing around on some different practice squads for a little bit. He's a guy to look at for a possibility in the future. He played pretty good on special teams. We knew him coming out in the draft and then when he was with Dallas in the preseason, the couple games I watched he looked pretty good."

Starting safety Robert Blanton missed Sunday's game with an injury, and while cornerback Shaun Prater can potentially play safety, the Vikings have only three healthy safeties right now.

In other news, the Vikings added guard Jordan McCray to their practice squad. McCray, an undrafted rookie out of Central Florida, spent time on the Packers' practice squad this season.

He was one of multiple players the team had in for tryouts today. That's because in addition to promoting Dixon, the Vikings lost cornerback Chris Greenwood, who was signed by the Ravens.