Purple Rumor Mill: Trade for a Pro Bowl CB, Cam Akers, Jordan Addison’s Declaration
VikingsTerritory’s Purple Rumor Mill is a two-day chronicle each week. All the week’s Vikings rumors are lassoed and plopped in two spots — articles on Saturday and Sunday — for review. Today is the July 13th edition.
Purple Rumor Mill: Trade for a Pro Bowl CB, Cam Akers, Jordan Addison’s Declaration
Remember — rumors are rumors. What you read on weekends in these pieces is what the world is talking about pertaining to the purple team, not necessarily items that will come to fruition.
Here’s the first batch of the week.
Rumor: The Vikings should trade for cornerback Marshon Lattimore, a member of the New Orleans Saints.
Bleacher Report published this idea for the Vikings this week. There’s just no reason to believe the trade will come to fruition.
The price for Lattimore according to BR? 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.”
For now, Minnesota has Byron Muphy, Shaquill Griffin, Mekhi Blackmon, Akayleb Evans, and Andrew Booth on tap to vie for playing time in 2024. A Lattimore trade would assuredly plop into the CB1 role, with the others fighting for CB2 and CB3.
Fowler added, “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.”
Like most trade theories, this one probably won’t happen.
Rumor: Cam Akers is on the Vikings’ roster.
Akers joined the Vikings’ roster last September for a few months before his contract expired, and according to ESPN, he’s already back in the saddle for 2024, pending a physical.
The problem? ESPN is the only source reporting Akers-to-Minnesota. Here’s a screen-grab from the Transactions portion of ESPN’s website:
The NFL’s transaction wire has not reported Akers’ signing in Minnesota, nor does Vikings.com post the runner on the roster. But it’s not like ESPN is a mom-and-pop website that would erroneously or whimsically post bad information.
Ergo, the formality of this one is up in the air. In the end, yes, Akers will likely end up with the 2024 Vikings if he hasn’t already made it official.
Rumor: Jordan Addison is ultra-confident that his team will knock off the New York Giants in Week 1.
A Giants fan, Will McDonough, insinuated on Instagram that the Vikings would lose at MetLife Stadium on September 8th, and Addison rather bluntly disagreed. McDonough wrote, “And their still gonna lose week one.”
Brushing aside the grammatical gaffe from McDonough, Addison replied, “How much u wan bet?”
Here’s a visual of the exchange:
New York is favored by a point to derail Addison’s declaration, and Vikings fans still have the memory of the Giants upsetting the purple team in the postseason 18 months ago. In that vein, it would not be shocking one iota for New York to prevail. It’s just that Addison isn’t buying it and was somewhat defiant with his reply.
It’s worth noting that he might’ve been better off using a word other than “bet.” The NFL’s gambling culture is a little iffy right now.
Still, Addison’s swagger on the matter is pretty sweet.
Vikings Have a “Distressed Asset”
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 MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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