The 3 Wild Trade Ideas in the Vikings’ Orbit
The Minnesota Vikings have started the season flawlessly, enjoying a 5-0 record while exiting their Week 6 bye.
The 3 Wild Trade Ideas in the Vikings’ Orbit
Accordingly, the team can be hot and heavy in the trade rumor mill, either as buyers of talent — like a deal for running back Cam Akers on Tuesday — or sellers, possibly offloading players for draft capital, like outside linebacker Patrick Jones II or cornerback Akayleb Evans, for example.
But sometimes the trade theories get too wild. These are the three strangest trade ideas in the Vikings’ orbit, with the deadline 20 days away. They’re ranked in ascending order (No. 1 = wildest theory).
3. Dexter Lawrence to Vikings
Vikings fans have daydreamed about Dexter Lawrence in purple via trade for a few weeks. But many hurdles stand in the way, rendering a would-be Lawrence trade basically moot.
1) The Giants’ front office and coaching staff must win now or risk termination in January. They can’t afford to trade Lawrence, arguably their best player.
2) New York is still a fringe participant in the playoff hunt at 2-4. Teams don’t trade their best players while chasing the postseason.
3) The Giants would have to swallow $28 million in dead cap — just to trade their 26-year-old best player. Why the hell would they do that?
4) Lawrence is too young to sell, even in a theoretical fire sale.
Trading a 26-year-old best player on the team — rebuild or no rebuild — is quite outlandish.
2. Matthew Stafford to Vikings
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio insinuated last weekend that Minnesota could or should swing a trade with the Los Angeles Rams for quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Stafford and Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell won a Super Bowl together in 2021 (2022 on the calendar) mere days before O’Connell took the big job in Minnesota.
Florio explained: “If, for example, the Jets provided a blueprint for making Sam Darnold look mortal, the Vikings would be wise (if they lose to the Lions and then to Stafford’s Rams) to at least entertain the possibility of an upgrade. (Coincidentally, Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell and Stafford worked together for a year in L.A. And they both won a Super Bowl ring for their efforts.)”
He mentioned an injury angle, too, “It’s more likely that the destination will be driven by injury. We’ve got four more weekends of football before the window closes. One season-ending injury is all it takes for Stafford to have a new home. And for the Rams to get a nice return,” he wrote. “In 2011, the Bengals and quarterback Carson Palmer were at impasse. Two days before the trade deadline, Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell suffered a broken collarbone. That sparked a Palmer trade to Oakland.”
Florio is right about one thing: the only way the purple team will trade for a starting quarterback in the next three weeks is if Darnold encounters a season-ending ailment like his teammate J.J. McCarthy. More on him shortly.
Otherwise, Stafford to the Vikings via midseason trade is just unfathomable. The coaching staff utterly adores Sam Darnold.
1. J.J. McCarthy to the Giants
A few weeks ago, Darnold was playing so well that ESPN’s Mike Greenberg claimed Minnesota should trade its quarterback of the future, J.J. McCarthy, to the Giants.
“If you’re the Giants, do you want as your quarterback next year A) Sam Darnold or B) J.J. McCarthy? Which of the two quarterbacks, is Minnesota going to be willing to part with?” he questioned on ESPN airwaves. “Is Darnold gonna be good enough that he gets one of these monster contracts, and they are willing to trade away J.J. McCarthy – for whom you could get a No. 1 pick, easily? Are they going to be willing to trade him away? Or will they let Darnold walk because McCarthy has the rookie deal situation left?”
He added, “All of this is obviously way premature because Darnold has played three great games. But if this thing goes this way, if Donald has the kind of season from which you say to yourself, ‘We can’t walk away from this,’ do the Vikings consider trading J.J. McCarthy?”
The Vikings won’t trade McCarthy just because Darnold has played well for a few games. What a take.
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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