Remember the T.J. Hockenson Trade? The Vikings Won Big.
Perhaps you haven’t paid close attention because it’s three years in the making, but the Minnesota Vikings, beyond the shadow of a doubt, won the T.J. Hockenson trade three years ago.
Do you recall the T.J. Hockenson trade? The Vikings won it and then some, landing a star TE who changed their offense and made the deal look like a steal.
Hockenson is on tap for Year No. 4 in the Twin Cities, while the Lions’ spoils from the arrangement have dropped like flies.
In fact, the deal actually looks terrible for Detroit in hindsight.
Remember the T.J. Hockenson Trade? The Vikings Cooked.
Most components of the 2022 T.J. Hockenson trade have revealed themselves, and the debate is over.
Monday Proved the Vikings Won the T.J. Hockenson Trade
Detroit released Hendon Hooker — who was also casually linked to Minnesota during the 2023 draft build-up — on Monday, bringing to light the details of the Hockenson deal for many.
The Lions obtained three primary players from the 2022 swap: Hooker, defensive tackle Audric Martin, and wide receiver Antoine Green. By bedtime Tuesday, all three are likely to be on the waiver wire or be free agents.
A to Z Sports‘ Mike Payton explained Monday, “Ok, look. I know what you’re thinking. ‘Mike, the Lions have Sam LaPorta. They’re good.’ That is so true. The Lions traded away T.J. Hockenson in 2022, and it made a ton of sense. He was not a fit for the Lions, and paying the massive $66 million contract the Vikings gave him would not benefit the team. All of that was a win, but what has backfired on the Lions is not the fact that they made the trade; it’s what they got out of it, which was close to nothing.”
“The trade details are as follows: The Lions sent Hockenson, a 2023 fourth-round pick, and a 2024 fourth-round pick to the Minnesota Vikings for a 2023 second-round pick and a 2024 third-round pick. Not bad when you consider it that way. But when you look at what the Lions got with these picks, it’s bad except for one player.”
The deal was pretty damn one-sided.
The Lions’ Spoils Flopped
Hooker looked absolutely dreadful in the preseason. His skillset from the University of Tennessee has not translated to the NFL, and Detroit learned that hard truth, culminating in his release (waiver) this week.
Martin has played 53 defensive snaps in two seasons. The 3rd-Rounder — who many considered a reach in the first place — has made zilch impact in Detroit.
And Green, a 7th-Rounder, has one NFL catch for two yards since 2023. He’ll almost certainly be waived on Tuesday.
Then that’s it for direct returns from the agreement. There’s no silver lining.
Hockenson Remains in Minnesota as the TE1
Meanwhile, Minnesota traded for Hockenson to secure a TE1 for the long haul. It has that. Hockenson is unabashedly the team’s primary tight end, scheduled to be around the purple team’s roster orbit for the next three seasons at minimum.
Courtesy of Lions safety Kerby Joseph, Hockenson tore his ACL late in the 2023 campaign, but he battled back to return 10 months later. Now, with a healthy and full offseason at his back, Hockenson is ready for TE1 duty, which just so happens to align with the dawn of the J.J. McCarthy era.
The Pathway to J.J. McCarthy
Speaking of McCarthy, Minnesota used the 2024 pick from Detroit to move up. The young quarterback fell to Minnesota at pick No. 10 in April 2024, and to secure him, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah used the 2024 4th-Rounder from the Lions as part of the maneuvering.
Moreover, the draft prior, Adofo-Mensah used the 2023 4th-Rounder on safety Jay Ward, who remains on the active depth chart.
More from Mike Payton
Payton added more context to the Hockenson trade: “The Lions walked out of this trade with Hendon Hooker, Brodric Martin, and Antoine Green. By Tuesday night, all three of these players could no longer be with the Lions. Green is already gone. Everyone had high hopes for him last summer, but then he suffered a season-ending concussion in the preseason.”
“The Lions waived him shortly after. He hasn’t played football since. Martin was a big reach at the time. The Lions traded up in the third round to get him in the 2023 NFL Draft, and he wound up just playing five games for Detroit. This summer was a big one for him to prove he deserved to be on the roster, and he struggled. There’s a slight chance he could make the practice squad, but the Lions are deep on the defensive line, and he’s somewhere near the bottom right now. As for Hooker, this pick just never made a lot of sense.”
Most Vikings fans were happy with the Hockenson trade; now it’s official that the deal from three years ago was worthwhile.
Payton added, “He was too old to be a successor to Goff, and he played in a system at Tennessee that didn’t translate well to the NFL. There’s no doubt there’s an athlete there, and he has talent, but he’s struggled with timing and mental stuff since day one, and he hasn’t gotten over that.”
“There’s still a slight chance the Lions could keep him, but it’s hard to see it happening at this point. There is one big positive, or something that looks like a big positive. We mentioned earlier that there was one player the Lions acquired in this trade who’s good: Terrion Arnold.”
It’s worth noting that Detroit didn’t directly fetch Arnold from the Hockenson swap; it used draft capital from the deal to trade up and later land him.
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