Ben Tate to Vikings: Latest Contract Details, Analysis and Reaction

Ben Tate was supposed to be a feature back for the first time in his career with the Cleveland Browns this season, but the team waived him Tuesday following its Week 11 loss to the Houston Texans. 

Now, the Minnesota Vikings are prepared to take a flier on the veteran, after officially claiming Tate off waivers on Wednesday. On Sunday, Albert Breer of NFL Network reported Tate would be active for Week 12.

ESPN's Field Yates first shared the news of Tate joining the Vikings.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network had reported that several teams were mulling the possibility of claiming Tate upon his release, per Around The NFL:

ESPN's Adam Scheffer reported that two other teams made claims on Tate, although the Vikings got him based on record:

Ben Goessling of ESPN provided offensive coordinator Norv Turner's thoughts on signing Tate:

Before coming to the Browns, Tate never had a true shot at being a team's go-to back. Arian Foster was ahead of him on the depth chart during his tenure with the Houston Texans, though Tate did perform well when called upon.

This offseason, Cleveland signed Tate to a two-year contract as one of its marquee free-agent signings. However, the team also traded up for former Towson standout Terrance West in the third round of the NFL draft, giving the San Francisco 49ers fourth- and sixth-round picks in exchange.

Combined with the emergence of talented undrafted first-year running back Isaiah Crowell, the Browns were soon saying their goodbyes to Tate, who missed two games early in the season due to a knee injury.

Head coach Mike Pettine justified the decision to move on so quickly from Tate as the potential No. 1 back in Cleveland.

"There's an explosiveness there with the young backs, just a little bit more pop," Pettine told reporters Monday, a day before Tate's release. "We wanted to see those guys out there. Sometimes it's not a matter of a negative against a guy, it's more of a positive with the other ones. We take everything into account." 

Part of Tate's lack of success in Cleveland can be attributed to Pro Bowl center Alex Mack going down for the season with a broken left fibula following a 31-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 6. However, NFL.com's Marc Sessler alluded to the lackluster results that ultimately chased Tate out of town:

The Vikings offer a far less convoluted and competitive situation for Tate to enter and contribute to rather soon, at least in 2014. Adrian Peterson is suspended for the remainder of the season, and only Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata are seeing significant touches out of the backfield.

Although he still has to acclimate to the locker room and a brand-new playbook, Tate is a veteran who has been a productive back before and is plenty capable of picking up a new system.

When Tate has adequate blocking in front of him, he has proven to be an effective one-cut, downhill runner with a nice blend of power and elusiveness. Extenuating circumstances have hampered his production in Cleveland, but Minnesota may be just the fresh environment Tate needs to reach his NFL apex, especially given the uncertainty surrounding Peterson's future with the franchise.