The 2011 NFL regular season is over and a 3-13 record has landed the Minnesota Vikings as far away from a trip to the playoffs as they could have imagined.

So now that the 2011 campaign has come to an end, the Vikings have their sights set on preparing for the 2012 season. Although free agency doesn’t start until the first week of March and they still have over four months before the 2012 NFL Draft, the Vikings made some of the only moves they could make to secure players for the future.

On Monday, the Vikings signed all seven of their practice squad players to reserve/future contracts. Once the regular season ended after their loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday, the Vikings had one week to sign members of their practice squad before they became free agents. With these signings, the Vikings have secured their seven young talents at least until the 2012 preseason.

Among those signings were wide receivers Kris Adams and Kerry Taylor, guards Chris DeGeare and Butch Lewis, cornerback Reggie Jones, linebacker Tyrone McKenzie and tight end Allen Reisner. Terms of the contracts were not disclosed.

The only one of these seven players to see the field this season for the Vikings was Reisner. Although he enjoyed two stints on the Vikings’ practice squad in 2011, Reisner also appeared in six games and caught one pass for five yards.

DeGeare is the only other player besides Reisner that was signed today who has seen game day action in the NFL. Drafted by Vikings in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft out of Wake Forest, DeGeare played in eight games (five starts) throughout the 2010 season.

McKenzie was a third-round selection by the New England Patriots in 2009 and spent the 2010 season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Jones spent his rookie 2010 season with both the New Orleans Saints and Washington Redskins. The rest of the Vikings signees were all rookies this past season.

These seven players will all be around when the Vikings open up team workouts in a few months with the opportunity to earn a roster spot for the 2012 season.

Gil Alcaraz IV is a life-long follower of the Minnesota Vikings and the founder of TheVikingDen.com. For more Vikings/NFL coverage, follow him on Twitter or “like” The Viking Den on Facebook.

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