Five days before all NFL rosters must be trimmed, the Vikings waived cornerback Melvin White on Thursday.

It's an early move thinning one of the team's deepest position groups, where Xavier Rhodes, Terence Newman, Trae Waynes, Captain Munnerlyn and Mackensie Alexander sit atop the depth chart.

White, 26, joined the Vikings on a one-year deal this offseason after spending parts of three seasons with the Carolina Panthers and St. Louis Rams. He had been held out part of training camp due to an injury and only recently returned to practice.

The Vikings must trim the 90-man offseason roster down to 75 players by 3 p.m. CT on Tuesday. The first wave precedes final cuts, which need to be made down to 53 players by Sept. 3.

"Rick [Spielman] and I have been going through the 75 probably the last, every day," head coach Mike Zimmer said Wednesday. "Even that, there are some scenarios there that could change. Things change with injuries, but also we've discussed a lot of those scenarios. … We've talked scenarios more so. If we keep 11 offensive linemen, let's say. How does that affect everything else?"

The Vikings roster now carries 89 players.