On Tuesday, some organizations went for big swings ahead of the trade deadline. Primarily in the spotlight were the Dallas Cowboys and the Indianapolis Colts, who both acquired a star player from the New York Jets. Sam Darnold’s Seattle Seahawks handed the former Vikings captain another speedy weapon in Rashid Shaheed.
Vikings GM Says “No Thanks” to Old Habit
Vikings fans were waiting for their club to enter the race for some big-hitter. Some wanted a new backup quarterback, others desired a cornerback, and some even floated the idea of adding Breece Hall to the running back group.
Well, one deal after another was reported, but the Vikings were left out on both the buying and the selling side. GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has not struck a deal ahead of the deadline for the first time in his tenure. Mind you, this is his fourth season in charge.
In 2022, he made perhaps his biggest trade so far when he made a deal with the Detroit Lions that brought tight end T.J. Hockenson to the Twin Cities. Hockenson has been productive for the Vikings, especially before his severe knee injury in December 2023. He’s been a crucial part of Minnesota’s offense since arriving.
On the flip side, some folks argue that he cost too much. Adofo-Mensah shipped a couple of picks to the division rivals that were worth a second-rounder by most common trade charts. Then, of course, he had to pay him in the 2023 offseason, and he signed a pretty substantial deal for a tight end.
A year later, Kirk Cousins had just gone down with his Achilles injury, the Vikings were looking for a new signal-caller, and Adofo-Mensah found Joshua Dobbs in Arizona. Kyler Murray was about to replace him in the lineup, as he was close to returning from his knee injury, and the Cardinals weren’t competitive anyway.
That move gave the Vikings the Dobbs-mania experience, which certainly belongs among the most exciting couple of weeks over the last decade of Vikings football. The other, almost forgotten, move sent Ezra Cleveland to Jacksonville. A former second-rounder, he was in the final year of his rookie contract, and Jacksonville wanted to extend his deal; the Vikings didn’t. A sixth-rounder was generated in the process.
Finally, in 2024, Adofo-Mensah traded for two players: Cam Robinson and Cam Akers.
The latter was a trade prize for the second time within about 14 months and once again replaced Ty Chandler as the team’s RB2 in the building. He’s currently employed on the practice squad in his third stint with the Vikings.
Robinson was supposed to replace Christian Darrisaw for the remainder of the season because the standout blocker had torn his ACL right ahead of the deadline. He’s a veteran and entered the lineup pretty smoothly, but the longer the season went, the more teams found ways to attack him.
This time, there was no phone notification sending the fanbase into a frenzy. Adofo-Mensah, who loves to make deals, didn’t this time.
The disadvantage is obvious: No new player means the Vikings don’t have a chance to get better —at least not with an outside boost.
However, the Vikings keep their draft picks, and they definitely need to make some picks. The miss rate in recent drafts, combined with the lack of picks due to various trades, has resulted in a quite old roster. Sure, it would’ve been nice to add Quinnen Williams, Sauce Gardner, or a comparable star, but having first and second-rounders in the pipeline isn’t the worst for the franchise that could use some young talent.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell suggested on Monday that the Vikings would get their reinforcements from within as they are getting healthier. Aaron Jones, Blake Cashman, Andrew Van Ginkel, Brian O’Neill, and Christian Darrisaw have all returned to the field in recent weeks, with Ryan Kelly potentially joining them soon.
It was an uneventful day for Skol Nation. Adofo-Mensah struck out for the first time in his tenure.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.
