Purple Rumor Mill: Trading Down on Draft Night, Barr Playing Elsewhere, Kyler Murray

How Does Vikings GM Handle His First Trade Deadline?
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah

VikingsTerritory‘s Purple Rumor Mill is a two-day chronicle each week. All the week’s rumors are lassoed and plopped in two spots — articles on Saturday and Sunday — for review.

Remember — rumors are rumors. What you read on weekends in these pieces is what the world is talking about pertaining to the Vikings, not necessarily items that will come to fruition.


Rumor: Vikings will trade down on draft night

Vikings New GM Must Really Like the Roster
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah

This one has really grown legs in the last two weeks. There is merit to it.

The Vikings primary draft targets — at least per credible mock drafts — are Ahmad Gardner and Derek Stingley Jr. Now, those men are “too good” for availability at the Vikings #12 pick, evidenced by performances at the NFL Combine and Pro Days.

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah came from the Cleveland Browns, and they enjoy draft trades as of late. Because the Vikings most coveted draft prospects could be off the board by the time Minnesota is on the clock, Adofo-Mensah could trade back to maximize the value of his first-ever draft.

Get used to the idea of the Vikings trading back because it may come to a Thursday night television screen near you.

Rumor: Anthony Barr will end up with a different team not called Vikings

Anthony Barr
Harrison Barden-USA TODAY Sports

If Barr plays in 2022, it likely will not be for the Vikings. Minnesota has two off-ball linebackers on the depth chart, Eric Kendricks and Jordan Hicks. Would Barr re-sign with the Vikings in a reduced, reservist role? We think not.

Yes, the Jets and Barr are the whisper right now — you know, the team he nearly joined three weeks ago. CBS Sports‘ Cody Benjamin rekindled Barr-to-the-Jets last week in a landing-spots article.

If Barr doesn’t retire due to a bad knee, he will play somewhere else this September.

Rumor: Because Kyler Murray hasn’t received a new contract in Arizona, he could still be traded to the Vikings

NFL.com Floats Kyler Murray to Vikings Trade Idea
Kyler Murray

?

Our friends at The Viking Age re-kickstarted this idea in an article titled “Could the Vikings Trade for Kyler Murray in 2022?

This will not happen. Plain and simple.

Kyler Murray and Cardinals will find kumbaya. They just will. Indeed, Murray is volatile, but he still has a lot to prove before he can refuse to play football because he’s cranky about money.

The Vikings are locked in with the roster group they feel can contend for the postseason.

Adofo-Mensah has $80.1 million in dead cap funds invested in Cousins. Trading him in 2022 is financially ludicrous.

Murray to Minnesota is not happening in 2022.


Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).

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