How the Vikings Can Upgrade at Cornerback
Every summer, the Minnesota Vikings add an impact player from free agency or via trade, and 2025 likely won’t be different.
Vikings fans believe the team could arguably upgrade at the cornerback spot this summer, and these are the options.
And while the franchise may be content with cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., Isaiah Rodgers, Mekhi Blackmon, Jeff Okudah, and Dwight McGlothern, among others, the second starting CB spot could use an upgrade.
So, these are the Vikings’ options for a CB2 upgrade listed alphabetically.
Jaire Alexander
How to Get Him?
Trade (or eventually free agency)
Alexander and the Green Bay Packers have encountered an awkward offseason — and after awkward 2024 regular season.
The two-time Pro Bowler has lived on the trade rumor mill, while some have expected his release. If Green Bay ever cuts Alexander instead of finding a trade partner, Minnesota could pounce and make Alexander its main corner next to Murphy Jr.
Rasul Douglas
How to Get Him?
Free Agency
Douglas recently worked out for the Seattle Seahawks and produced a hot-and-cold season for the 2024 Buffalo Bills. He’d be a veteran Minnesota could sign if it preferred depth insurance, not unlike Shaquill Griffin in 2024.
Speaking of Griffin …
Shaquill Griffin
How to Get Him?
Free Agency
Griffin posted a video of himself working out in Vikings gear not long ago, leading internet detectives to speculate about his return. The veteran corner has also flirted with the Seattle Seahawks this offseason, the team that brought him into the pros eight years ago.
Like last year, if Minnesota added Griffin, he’d act as wonderful depth insurance on the depth chart. He’s the perfect spot starter.
Mike Hilton
How to Get Him?
Free Agency
Hilton curiously hasn’t signed anywhere from free agency, and that’s a little strange. He still has the juice to start in the NFL at age 31.
The former Cincinnati Bengal is also one of the most ferocious blitzing CBs in the business, and the Vikings employ the most blitz-happy defensive coordinator known to man.
In that vein, Hilton is a fit.
Jack Jones
How to Get Him?
Free Agency
Minnesota spent a Top 30 visit on Jones during the lead-up to the 2022 NFL Draft, but he landed with the New England Patriots. Jones didn’t last long with the Patriots, kicked loose during the middle of the 2023 campaign.
Guess who put in a waiver claim for Jones that week? The Vikings.
Jones might be the most common-sense CB addition for the purple team on this list. The only question? Why hasn’t general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah signed him? If he wants him, what’s the hold-up?
Greg Newsome II
How to Get Him?
Trade
The Cleveland Browns drafted Newsome II during Adfo-Mensah’s final year in the Browns’ front office. From a scouting standpoint, Adofo-Mensah should know him well.
Well, Newsome II enters a contract year, and because of Cleveland’s grave financial sins with Deshaun Watson, it probably can’t afford players like Newsome II.
The Vikings might be able to get him from a mid-to-late round pick.
Jalen Ramsey
How to Get Him?
Trade
Ramsey has been in the trade rumor mill for about a month; Dolphins general manager Chris Grier even confirmed it.
He’ll be traded somewhere, and for a 3rd-Round selection or so, Minnesota could floss a seven-time Pro Bowler as its CB1 in 2025.
Never forget — Ramsey and head coach Kevin O’Connell won a Super Bowl together in Los Angeles.
Asante Samuel Jr.
How to Get Him?
Free Agency
NFL teams are waiting until July, when Samuel Jr.’s medical status will become more apparent. Then, some team will sign him to a one-year prove-it deal. Why not Minnesota, a team with Isaiah Rodgers and Mekhi Blackmon vying for the CB2 job?
A healthy Samuel Jr. is a better football player than Rodgers and Blackmon.
Tariq Woolen
How to Get Him?
Trade
Brian Flores loves tall, muscular cornerbacks. That’s Woolen. Like Newsome II in Cleveland, Woolen’s contract is due to expire after the 2025 season, and the Seahawks don’t seem to be in a hurry to extend him.
For a 4th-Round pick or so, Minnesota could trade for Woolen, extend his contract, and have a sweet cornerback in the house for the foreseeable future — one who hasn’t even entered his NFL prime.
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