Turns out the Minnesota Vikings kicked the tires on a Diggs/Hopkins trade

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Stefon Diggs seen here preparing to get mad two balls weren’t thrown to him on this play

One of my many Stefon Diggs related takes since the mercurial receiver was traded was openly questioning why the Minnesota Vikings didn’t trade Diggs for then Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Considering that the Texans were widely considered to have been fleeced via the Cardinals (who sent flash in the pan running back David Johnson, as well as a second-round pick, etc.), one would’ve thought that an offer of someone of Diggs’ caliber would be too good to pass up.

I mostly wrote that idea off because clearly Bill O’Brien was looking for help in the run game, and obviously Diggs isn’t a running back. My above referenced take was also before Justin Jefferson’s emergence as the best young wide receiver in the league, which makes the Vikings the biggest winner between the four teams included in either scenario (including the Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, and Arizona Cardinals).

But it turns out that the Vikings did their due diligence before Hopkins was traded to Arizona. According to SportsIllustrated, and brought to my attention by TheVikingsAge’s Adam Patrick, there were reported “rumblings” that the Vikings were pursuing a Diggs-for-Hopkins trade.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/12/14/monday-afternoon-quarterback-revisiting-stefon-diggs-trade

“Last year, when the Texans were looking to move DeAndre Hopkins, rumblings of a Hopkins-for-Stefon Diggs deal bubbled up briefly. The Vikings weren’t interested, for a variety of reasons (money was a big one.)”

While it seems that the Texans wanted running back help, it sounds like the Vikings were the ones to no deal any potential deal. Then again, one of the “variety” of reasons why the Vikes turned down this deal could he that the Texans wanted running back help (most likely Alexander Mattison as a Diggs and Cook trade would require an insane amount of capital).

The Vikings obviously were without much cap space this past off-season, and while Hopkins’ 2020 cap hit is only $7m and $12m in 2021, it’s over $25m in 2022 and over $27m in 2023. Yikes.

Either way, this situation worked out for every team except for the Texans with trade architect Bill O’Brien being fired shortly after his team gave the Vikings their first win on the season.

The Vikings ended up with Justin Jefferson, who is over seven years younger and multiples of five cheaper than Hopkins. The Bills got their best wide receiver in decades (or perhaps ever), for now, and despite their recent struggles the Cardinals feel like one of the up-and-coming teams in the NFC.

But it’s the Vikings that ended up as the biggest beneficiaries, with Jefferson lighting the league aflame at a level Vikings fans haven’t seen since Randy Moss’ rookie season in 1998.

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