Bleacher Report Has a Trade Suggestion for Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings reconciled with longtime pass rusher Everson Griffen on Monday after five months of suspense on who the team might sign in addition to Stephen Weatherly and D.J. Wonnum to compete for the right defensive end job.

Griffen was rumored to rejoin the Vikings for about eight months, beginning at the end of the 2020 regular season when the USC alumnus outwardly said he’d like to “come home” to Minnesota.

He patched over some locker-room wounds and will now be employed by head coach Mike Zimmer as a “situational pass rusher” until everyone realizes he’s worthy of the starting gig. And you know that will happen at some point in the 2021 season.

Regardless of his addition to the team, national talking heads have a different idea for the Vikings DE gameplan – a trade.

Bleacher Report detailed a trade that every team should explore before the commencement of the regular season. For the Vikings, that was the trade of a late-round pick to the Buffalo Bills for Jerry Hughes, a player who is the same age as Griffen – 33.

Perhaps Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report didn’t see the Griffen news. Or maybe he doesn’t view Griffen as a viable starter. In any event, the first draft of his analysis theorized that Minnesota should trade the Denver Broncos for Von Miller. He changed his mind, though, swapping the proposal to Jerry Hughes. Here’s the rationale from Gagnon:

“Earlier, we had the Broncos offering Von Miller to the Minnesota Vikings. But I’d imagine the always-cap-strapped Vikes would prefer to give up less than a primo draft pick for a pass rusher to complement Danielle Hunter. So before accepting that fictional offer, let’s have them touch base with the Bills about the veteran Hughes, who may be expendable considering the presence of fellow vet Mario Addison as well as youngsters Gregory Rousseau, Carlos Basham Jr. and A.J. Epenesa. At this point, Buffalo could be willing to move Hughes for next to nothing in order to save $6.4 million, and that total wouldn’t cripple the Vikings. See if they’d do it for a fifth-rounder, Rick Spielman!”

Gagnon has a valid point about Buffalo drafting astutely for its defensive line, leaving Hughes quasi-expendable.

Put bluntly, however, Minnesota just took remedial steps to fix the pass rush. His name is Everson Griffen. That’s the Vikings move.

Trading a 5^th-Rounder or so for Hughes certainly isn’t silly, but it creates a crowded house. Stephen Weatherly would be likely be cut. D.J. Wonnum’s playing time would plummet. Or as the odd man out, Griffen could be banished to a teensy snap count.

The transaction would bolster depth, but that’s why the Vikings signed Griffen this week. Minnesota either needed a Griffen-or-better defensive end – or nothing at all. The bodies are there for Zimmer’s depth; the focus is geared at more ferocious pass rushing.

Here’s the Pro Football Focus history in the off chance the Hughes thing acutaly happens:

• 2020: 75.3
• 2019: 71.8
• 2018: 87.9
• 2017: 75.0
• 2016: 55.5
• 2015: 72.9
• 2014: 71.4
• 2013: 78.3
• 2012: 63.4
• 2011: 53.1
• 2010: 47.4

That would do the trick if the Vikings were Griffen-less. Since entering the NFL in 2021, Hughes has notched 56 sacks, which is the 35^th-most in the NFL during those 11 seasons. Most of his career – although he has strangely never reached a Pro Bowl – entails pass-rushing vibes. Hughes rushes quarterback with more efficacy than stuffing the run. The Vikings don’t really need any more run-stopping savants as Danielle Hunter, Dalvin Tomlinson, and Michael Pierce will hold down the run defense.

The Vikings traded for Yannick Ngakoue last season just as the regular season approached. Spielman dangled a 2^nd-Rounder in front of the Jacksonville Jaguars, and they pounced. Ngakoue never fit in with the team, evidenced by his trade to the Baltimore Ravens after six games.

It is unlikely that Spielman will attempt this strategy again because the Ngakoue trade is now known for its shortcoming. A 5^th-Rounder is a different arrangement than Ngakoue’s 2^nd-Rounder. But why trade anything when the team has a very Jerry Hughes-ish Everson Griffen ready to make an impact?