Top 2 Trade Candidates for Vikings Have Been Named
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler has decided this week that Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones and linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. are the team’s most likely players to be traded before next Tuesday, when all deals must be complete.
The Minnesota Vikings could sell a couple of players before the league’s trade deadline on Tuesday, and ESPN knows just the players to deal.
The league is allegedly set to experience the most swaps in history, or so the reporting goes.
And if Minnesota gets in on the fun, it’s evidently Jones and Pace Jr. on the chopping block.
ESPN Calls Aaron Jones and Ivan Pace Jr. the Vikings’ Main Trade Bait
Fasten your seatbelt before the NFL trade deadline.
Aaron Jones as a Trade Candidate
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler labeled Jones a trade candidate this week and wrote, “Notable trade candidates: RB Aaron Jones Sr. Moving on from Jones might be more about saving money than anything else.”
“He is owed just over $1 million in 2025 and has $2 million of his $10 million compensation in 2026 guaranteed, a deal the Vikings are likely to move on from this offseason. Would a team like the Chargers be willing to essentially pay $3 million to have Jones in its lineup for the rest of 2025?”
Jones has missed four games this season with a hamstring injury, returning to the lineup last week when Minnesota got creamed on Thursday Night Football. He’s healthy now, and if Minnesota mails it in on this season in the next five days, Jones is evidently a movable commodity.
Ivan Pace Jr., Too
Fowler also name-dropped Pace Jr: “Pace, who has fallen out of the starting lineup and played just 17 defensive snaps over the past two weeks, is a restricted free agent after the season.”
Minnesota benched Pace Jr. in Week 7 when Blake Cashman returned to the lineup, preferring to roll with Eric Wilson. Then, a week later, Pace Jr. rejoined the starting lineup but didn’t play much during the brutal loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Fowler also noted on Minnesota, “Down their fourth-round pick in next year’s draft (but with a third-round compensatory pick on the way and handful of late-round picks to make up for it), the Vikings might also want to follow in Houston’s footsteps to make up for some of the aggressive moves they made in the past. The Vikings had only five picks in 2025, and at 3-4, they haven’t looked like a team that can make a deep playoff push this season.”
“They’ll obviously hope to improve after getting second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy back from his ankle injury, but the defense has been surprisingly lacking for coordinator Brian Flores. The Vikings had the second-best defensive performance of the season by EPA per play against Jake Browning and the Bengals in September and otherwise rank 25th by the same metric against everyone else, down from second a year ago.”
Other Tradeable Assets
Let’s assume that Jones and Pace Jr. are not offloaded by the trade deadline — but someone else does receive the shoulder-tap.
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah could trade these players to new teams, especially if his team loses on Sunday at the Detroit Lions:
- Javon Hargrave (DT)
- T.J. Hockenson (TE)
- Jeff Okudah (CB)
The Vikings actually exist in an awkward spot at the deadline. With a 3-4 record, they’re not bad enough to hold a fire sale; they’re not winning enough to load up.
The Compensation?
If Jones caught the eye of a suitor, Minnesota could realistically snag a 5th- or 6th-Round pick for his services. The veteran tailback will turn 31 in December, and no team will pay more than a 5th-Rounder for an old running back.
On Pace Jr., well, his tackling woes won’t help his cause. He has plenty of time to rebound — unlike Jones, Pace Jr. has youth on his side — but expecting more than a 6th- or 7th-Rounder for him feels more like daydreaming. Adofo-Mensah would probably trade Pace Jr. and a 6th-Rounder to a linebacker-needy team for a 5th-Rounder or something similar.
Jones to LAC?
NFL writer Ben Strauss suggested Jones to the Chargers this week, too: “The Los Angeles Chargers got their season back on track against the Minnesota Vikings. LA is 5-3 and in a close race with Kansas City and Denver in the AFC West division standings.”
“Perhaps the Chargers could add talent at the NFL trade deadline to give them a boost in the second half of the season. The Chargers and Vikings could help each other out by agreeing to an Aaron Jones trade. LA feels like the perfect destination for Jones. They have relied on Kimani Vidal as Omarion Hampton and Najee Harris are on injured reserve. Jones would be a clear short-term upgrade.”
Jones’ workload in Los Angeles would diminish greatly when Hampton, a rookie, returned to the lineup.
Strauss added, “Meanwhile, the Vikings still have Jordan Mason and Zavier Scott, who could handle the team’s carries for the rest of the season. Jones is still a capable receiving back, even in the twilight years of his career. He would bring another dimension to LA’s offense.”
More about the Vikings’ trade intentions will be known after Sunday’s game at Ford Field.
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