Thoughts on the Jonathan Greenard Trade

The Vikings got roughly the value they were seeking. In pure draft value chart math, the two third-round picks don’t quite equate to one second-round pick, but if you place a premium on the 2027 pick, that gets you there. I would’ve liked for the Vikings to have gotten the Eagles’ #68 pick this year instead of #98, but I don’t think the quality of player drafted would have been substantially different either. In some ways getting a third-round pick this year and next year may yield a better result than the Eagles’ #54 second-round pick this year.

In the end, Greenard is a second-tier edge rusher who turns 29 next month and was seeking a new contract at market rate. He had been a backup in Houston but shined in his last year when injuries led to his having a starting role. He followed that up with another 12-sack season in Minnesota before an injury shortened season last year and only 3 sacks. Getting a third-round pick for each of the two remaining years on Greenard’s contract is fair.

To be honest, trading Greenard should have been something the Vikings should have considered in light of Dallas Turner’s development even if Greenard had not demanded a pay raise. Having three plus starters in Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Dallas Turner at edge rusher is a bit of a luxury and the Vikings could better allocate some of those resources to other position groups in greater need of them. Depth at edge rusher suffers as a result of the Greenard trade, but if Dallas Turner continues on his development path that saw him pick up 8 sacks and 42 pressures on 288 pass rush attempts with an arrow that continues to point up, there should be no downturn in production at that position this season.

The Vikings now free up $12.5 million in cap space this year after taking a $9.9 million dead cap hit and $22.3 million in cap space next year. And they add to their safety room with Jakobe Thomas, who was drafted with the pick acquired from the Eagles in the Greenard trade.

Overall, it was a short stint for Greenard with the Vikings at just two seasons and missing part of last season. I get the impression that he became more unhappy in Minnesota last season for a few reasons- the team not doing as well and his sack production down which he might have attributed to Flores’ blitz scheme which didn’t go over well with veteran journeymen looking to boost their sack numbers. His asking for a pay raise may have been as much about getting traded as it was seeking more money. Be that as it may, he was a good player for the Vikings, but a trade made sense for both sides.