As we mentioned earlier, the Minnesota Vikings (and every other team in the NFL) will be making a lot of roster cuts over the next week. Teams have to have their rosters reduced from 90 to 75 players by 3:00 PM Central on Tuesday and then to 53 by 3:00 PM Central on Saturday.

There are a few questions that fans are probably wondering about concerning the purple and gold as we get close to the annual visits from The Turk. Here are a few that I've been pondering, along with what I think is going to happen.

1) Do the Vikings keep a third quarterback on the roster?

It's nice to know that the Vikings have a good, developing young quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater to hitch their wagon to, and they have an allegedly reliable backup in journeyman Shaun Hill. Yes, I know Hill has been a little shaky at times this preseason, but given the rest of the quarterback depth chart, his spot on the team is about as secure as it gets.

However, there's a legitimate question as to whether or not the team should keep a third quarterback. At this point, it appears that undrafted rookie Taylor Heinicke is the third quarterback on the depth chart, with Mike Kafka likely to get cut sooner rather than later. Heinicke has been decent this preseason, including an 11-of-11 performance in the victory over the Dallas Cowboys. The team might want to try to sneak him onto the practice squad, but I'm not entirely sure if he'd make it there. The team tried this before a few years ago with Tyler Thigpen, but were foiled in their attempt when the Kansas City Chiefs picked him up.

I don't know if this team keeps Heinicke on the main roster or not. However, I think Kafka ends up getting a pink slip in Tuesday's first round of cuts, and Heinicke gets the entire game against the Titans to prove to the coaches that he should stick.

2) Does the team keep a fullback on the roster?

The team has two players on the roster than have been holding down the fullback position in third-year player Zach Line and undrafted rookie Blake Renaud. Neither of them have been terribly impressive this preseason, from what I've seen, and the fullback position is becoming less and less important in the Minnesota offense since Norv Turner has taken over. Last season, according to Football Outsiders, the Vikings used a two-back set on only 30% of the team's offensive snaps. Yes, I understand that was sans Adrian Peterson, but the indications have been that the Minnesota offense is going to continue trending towards more single-back and shotgun/pistol sets.

Much like Arif went with in his roster prediction, I don't think the team is going to keep a fullback when the smoke clears. The Vikings' offense is following the league-wide trend of devaluing the fullback position, and if they need someone to act as a lead blocker, they can use someone like Rhett Ellison in the same role, as he's proven to be effective there in the past.

3) Will the Vikings trade in their Ford?

While he doesn't seem to be as crazy about his fullbacks any more, we know that Norv Turner loves the tight end spot. Kyle Rudolph is obviously a lock to make the roster, and I believe that Rhett Ellison is as well. The team is going to keep at least three tight ends, and since it may be the deepest position on the roster, it makes sense that they could keep four.

Rookie MyCole Pruitt was impressive in camps and early in the preseason, despite the fact that he's missed a couple of preseason contests with an injury. His spot on the roster appears to be secure. And while having 2014 NFC Championship Game hero Brandon Bostick on the roster would be sort of funny, he's always been the fifth guy in the race.

That leaves Chase Ford, who has had a few memorable moments with the Vikings and has shown that he has the ability to be a contributor in the offense. He's the sort of talent that could also be moved to a team that has had some issues with the tight end position in the preseason, whether it's because of injuries or whatever else. Ultimately, this is connected to the fullback question, I think. . .if the team keeps a fullback, whether it's Line or Renaud, Ford's grip on a spot becomes more tenuous.

4) Does Marcus Sherels make this roster?

We've said it before, and we'll say it again. . .every year we predict Marcus Sherels will get cut, and every year he ends up proving us wrong. Is he going to do it again this year? The answer is a really, really solid. . .maybe.

Sherels isn't going to make this roster as a regular contributor in the secondary. With Xavier Rhodes, Terence Newman, Trae Waynes, Captain Munnerlyn, Jabari Price, and Josh Robinson (who will likely start the season on the PUP list) ahead of him, that just isn't going to be the route for him. If he does make it, it will be because of his contributions on special teams. So far, he's averaging 12 yards per punt return this year, which is good. . .until you look at rookie Stefon Diggs, who is averaging 20.9 yards/return. Wide receiver Adam Thielen is also averaging 12 yards/return as well, and he's definitely going to make the roster. He's made some nice plays covering punts and kickoffs as well, but is that going to be enough?

Sherels may survive and make the roster yet again this season, but I think the odds are longer for him now than they've been the past couple of seasons.

5) How many linebackers do the Vikings retain?

After a couple of years where the position was a bit of a wasteland, the Vikings may actually have the problem of having too many talented linebackers as we go into roster cut season. There appear to be at least five solid locks at the position, in my opinion, and those players are Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Gerald Hodges, Audie Cole, and Chad Greenway. (We can argue about Greenway all day, but I don't think he ends up as a "surprise cut" or anything like that.)

The Vikings have usually retained six linebackers, and if that's the figure they're looking at this year, there are going to be some fairly interesting decisions to make. Fan favorite Michael Mauti is a very good special teams contributor, CFL refugee Brian Peters has made some big plays this preseason, and the team seems to like both second-year man Brandon Watts and seventh-round pick Edmond Robinson.

The Vikings may end up keeping seven linebackers, but even then there are going to be some hard decisions to be made. But it's a lot more enjoyable, I think, for the team to have this issue than to wonder about what the team's going to do if a linebacker gets injured.

Those are some of the questions I've been thinking about as far as the upcoming roster cuts are concerned. What are some of the things that you've been wondering about?