Purple Rumor Mill: Trading for a Center, Kellen Mond, Tretter’s MIN Preference
Purple Rumor Mill: Trading for a Center, Kellen Mond, Tretter’s MIN Preference
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. Today is the August 27th edition.
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.
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Rumor: The Vikings may trade with an AFC team for a center.
Using an AFC team as a trade partner for a new center was advanced by Darren Wolfson of KSTP on a SKOR North show this week. He said about the idea, “The Vikings continue to kick the tires, I hear, on at least one AFC offensive lineman who has position flexibility. So, he could play center.”
We believe this team would be the Jacksonville Jaguars and possibly OL Tyler Shatley. The 31-year-old posted a 60.6 Pro Football Focus grade in 2021.
The broader implication is that Minnesota appears to have a quick hook in mind if Bradbury is up to his old tricks. Focus on Austin Schlottmann’s performance this week in Denver, plus Chris Reed’s health. Those men are the rostered contingency plans for Bradbury.
Otherwise, a trade checks out. Too — it’s a longshot — but perhaps Bradbury performs well with a new coaching staff?
Rumor: Kellen Mond may be on the way to a roster cut Tuesday.
Sadly, this feels like a foregone conclusion for many Vikings-themed analysts.
Cruise around the internet with a “Vikings 53-man roster projection” Google search, and you’ll find most purple pundits believe Mond is a lock to exit-stage-left from the roster next week.
It may not be that cut and dried yet — Minnesota could keep three QBs on the regular season roster — but Mond truly killed his QB2 stock last weekend versus San Francisco.
That’s why Kwesi Adofo-Mensha traded for Nick Mullens. The ex-Las Vegas Raider will be the QB2.
Rumor: JC Tretter wanted to play for the Vikings all along.
This one isn’t even a rumor — it’s a fact. Tretter wanted to play for the Vikings, a team he cheered for as a lad.
Tretter retired this week and told SI.com, “Minnesota never returned our call,” referring to his free agency. He also indicated that he grew up cheering for the Vikings and “wanted to put a bow on my childhood.”
In the end, no team evidently desired Tretter to the point of onboarding him as a free agent. If they did, he’d be getting set for the regular season.
While Tretter will be “the one that got away” for a while, especially if the aforementioned Bradbury struggles, wouldn’t Kwesi Adofo-Mensah know best about Tretter’s ability to play — or not play? He worked with Tretter in Cleveland. It’s probably not a big conspiracy.
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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