Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
The NFL’s trade deadline is Tuesday, November 1st, at 4:00 pm EST. If the Minnesota Vikings want in on the fun, the time is now.
Since taking over the big job in January, Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has pulled off 10 trades — that’s a lot — illustrating his tendency to enhance the roster with the tactic. In that regard, the next 24 hours should feel like Adofo-Mensah’s playground.
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These are the three likeliest roster spots to receive attention via trade if Minnesota pulls the trigger.
Vikings CB Patrick Peterson is conducting a totally resurgent season at the age of 32. His counterpart, Cameron Dantzler, is also performing well.
However, after those two starters, the Vikings employ maybe-caliber players who may or may not excel in a starting role. Minnesota drafted rookies Andrew Booth and Akayleb Evans last April, but it is unclear if either could handle the bright lights of a starting job if thrust into action due to a Peterson or Dantzler injury.
So, the Vikings could have eyes on cornerbacks like Sidney Jones IV (SEA), Sean Murphy-Bunting (TB), or William Jackson III, all men rumored on the trade block.
The problem for any Vikings trade, not limited to corners, is draft capital. Adofo-Mensah has already spent his 4th- and 6th-Rounders from the 2023 NFL Draft via other trades, so the young GM would have to dip in the 2024 draft basket or hope a 2023 5th-Rounder would do the trick.
Time is up. Irv Smith will not be blossoming into a Darren Waller type, at least not yet. The fourth-year tight end is a decent pass-catcher, but folks’ hypotheses for Smith as the “next big thing” were incorrect.
And if Smith fell injured in 2022 — he has a mini-precedent for injury — the Vikings would be forced to turn toward Johnny Mundt or Jacob Hollister.
It is unclear if the franchise views those men at TE1s in an emergency.
Therefore, Adofo-Mensah could target a tight end like Albert Okwuegbunam from Denver or hope someone like Kyle Rudolph is released.
Minnesota doesn’t outwardly need extra wide receivers, but the front office is evidently interested, nevertheless.
Chatting with hosts Phil Mackey and Judd Zulgad on a YouTube show last week, KSTP’s Darren Wolfson dropped some intel on the Vikings pursuit of a quasi-big-name WR, “I’ve heard that they’ve spoken with the Denver Broncos, the Washington Commanders, the Houston Texans. They seem to be on the lookout for a receiving target that can stretch the field, whether that be a K.J. Hamler or a Brandin Cooks.”
Assuming Adofo-Mensah desires other pass-catchers, the names to monitor are Chase Claypool, Brandin Cooks, Jerry Jeudy, Elijah Moore, Denzel Mims, Marquez Callaway, and D.J. Moore.
The Vikings are 6-1 through seven weeks and travel to Washington for a date with the Commanders in Week 9.
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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 Sal Spice. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).