6 Cornerback Options for Vikings after Mekhi Blackmon’s Injury
A torn ACL cut second-year Minnesota Vikings cornerback Mekhi Blackmon’s season on Wednesday, a dreadful way to start training camp for, well, everybody.
6 Cornerback Options for Vikings after Mekhi Blackmon’s Injury
The franchise had optimistic cornerback depth before this month for the first time in a while, but after Khryee Jackson’s tragic death on July 6th and Blackmon’s ACL tear on July 24th, the Vikings could add another defender to the CB room.
So, these are realistic options, ranked in ascending order (No. 1 = most realistic).
6. Patrick Peterson
How to Get Him:
Free Agency.
Why Peterson?
Peterson produced a 61.5 Pro Football Focus score in 2023 with Pittsburgh, a grade neither elite nor outwardly terrible. He played 97% of all Steelers defensive snaps — a whopping number for anybody, especially a 33-year-old cornerback — while tallying a decent 91.7 passer-rating-against. The man basically played all the time in his 13th NFL season and never got too high or low per production.
As a depth option, plus his familiarity with the Vikings, Peterson would make sense.
5. The Marshon Lattimore Trade Idea
How to Get Him:
Trade — probably a mid-Rounder + late-Rounder.
Why Lattimore?
Bleacher Report published four high-profile trade ideas in June, and Minnesota was included with a swap of draft picks for Lattimore.
The 28-year-old has spent seven seasons in New Orleans, most of them productive, and with the Saints routinely embroiled in salary cap hell, offloading Lattimore might check some boxes for long-term budget planning.
The price for Lattimore according to Bleacher Report? A 2026 3rd-Round pick and a 2025 5th-Rounder. “If the long-time Saint in Lattimore is made available, expect brass in Minnesota to kick the tires. Adding impact talent on defense has been a goal of Minnesota over the last few drafts,” BR’s Ryan Fowler wrote. “The team spent high capital to add corner Andrew Booth Jr (second round) and safety Lewis Cine (first round) in the 2022 draft, but neither player has remotely lived up to expectation in their first few campaigns.”
This is Lattimore’s PFF resume since entering the pros in 2017:
2023: 67.4
2022: 64.7
2021: 77.3
2020: 54.1
2019: 68.1
2018: 73.3
2017: 86.1
Fowler continued, “Minnesota has $26.3 million in 2024 cap space remaining and possesses $54.5 million in projected 2025 cap room. Meaning, the team has more than enough room to fit Lattimore’s contract while maintaining assets to allocate elsewhere.”
The only knock on Lattimore is injury. He’s missed 50% of all games in the last two seasons. On the whole, however, he’s a four-time Pro Bowler.
4. Adoree’ Jackson
How to Get Him:
Free Agency.
Why Jackson?
Jackson didn’t play gloriously last year — a 48.6 PFF grade — but in 2022, he tabulated a 72.2 via the same metric. He’s also 28 years old and usually has excellent pass-coverage skills.
Minnesota would basically hope his blah 2023 season was an outlier if it takes the plunge on his free agency.
Jackson was drafted 23 picks before former Vikings running back Dalvin Cook seven years ago.
3. Deommodore Lenoir via Trade
How to Get Him:
Trade — probably a mid-Rounder + late-Rounder.
Why Lenoir?
Lenoir enters the final year of his contract, and the 49ers may not have the funds to pay him next March. Therefore, because Charvarius Ward and Isaac Yiadom are on the roster, San Francisco could dangle Lenoir to the highest bidder.
He produced a 75.8 PFF grade in 2023, is only 24 years old, and featured a 75.2 passer-rating-against last year. For a mid-round pick in 2026, Lenoir to the Vikings could make a lot of sense.
The man also works for the 49ers, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s former employer. The line of communication with San Francisco’s front office should be wide open.
2. Xavien Howard
How to Get Him:
Free Agency.
Why Howard?
This four-time Pro Bowler worked alongside Brian Flores from 2019 to 2021 in Miami. Howard didn’t set the world on fire in 2023 — he posted a 55.1 PFF grade — but Minnesota doesn’t really need a lockdown defensive back. Just depth at the moment.
VikingsTerritory’s Ali Siddiqui endorsed a Howard signing in March, “He should not cost too much, given he is 30, but he would still be a great addition to this defense and knows Brian Flores’ defense well from their time together in Miami.”
1. Stephon Gilmore
How to Get Him:
Free Agency.
Why Gilmore?
This is the way.
Gilmore played for the New England Patriots from 2017 to 2020, connected with Flores in 2017 and 2018. Gilmore started all 17 games for last year’s Dallas Cowboys, notching a fantastic 74.4 PFF grade.
He’ll be 34 by Week 3 of the regular season, but for now, Minnesota just needs general CB help. It can look to the draft in 2025 and 2026 for a youth movement if Lenoir and Lattimore are not obtainable.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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