What might the Vikings receive in a trade for Everson Griffen?

The longtime Minnesota Vikings defensive end could be dealt this offseason in order for the team to clear some much needed salary cap space.

For the Minnesota Vikings and every other team around the NFL, each offseason can be filled with excitement. However, there is also the portion of each offseason where teams have to make some difficult decisions that may not always please their fan base.

This year, the Vikings may have to make some of these difficult choices and part ways with a few players that have become beloved by their fans. Minnesota is in desperate need of more salary cap space and letting go of some longtime members of their roster is something that would free up a good chunk of money.

One fan favorite that might be on his way out of Minnesota is defensive end Everson Griffen. Since they selected him in the fourth-round of the 2010 NFL Draft, Griffen has appeared in 132 games for the Vikings and he has developed into one of the best pass rushers in the league.

However, he’s coming off a 2018 season with Minnesota in which he finished with just 5.5 sacks in 11 games. Since becoming a full-time starter in 2014, Griffen has never ended a year with less than eight sacks.

While a portion of his decline in performance could certainly be attributed to some of the issues he was dealing with off of the field last season, the Vikings have to decide if they’re still satisfied with him as one of their two starting defensive ends.

Given his age (31) and the amount of money he’s due to earn in 2019 (more than $13 million), Griffen is definitely a top candidate to be one of Minnesota’s salary cap casualties this offseason.

Even though he’s on the backend of his NFL career, the veteran pass rusher does still have some value. Griffen’s talent and experience is something that a number of teams around the league could be interested in acquiring this year.

In an effort to keep the 31-year-old defensive end around in 2019, the Vikings are reportedly trying to restructure his contract and lower his cap hit for next season. But according to KSTP’s Darren Wolfson on Tuesday, Griffen is not interested in taking any sort of pay cut for 2019.

So if he doesn’t want to restructure, Minnesota’s only other options are to see if they can trade him or just outright release him.

Even if the Vikings find out they won’t get much back in a trade for Griffen, any sort of compensation would be better than the nothing they would get by releasing him.

Last year, the Philadelphia Eagles acquired veteran defensive end Michael Bennett from the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick. Back in 2015, the Chicago Bears received a sixth-round draft selection from the Carolina Panthers in return for them sending over former Minnesota defensive end Jared Allen.

This sort of compensation is likely what the Vikings will be looking at in a deal for Griffen. Acquiring a fourth-round pick would probably be the absolute best Minnesota could get in exchange for their veteran pass rusher, but a fifth or sixth-round selection seems more probable.

At his current 2019 salary, however, teams may just wait for the Vikings to release Griffen instead of giving up any assets to acquire him. Based on all of this, it seems like it is going to be pretty difficult for Minnesota to trade their longtime pass rusher this offseason.

Honestly, if the Vikings get any sort of trade offer for Griffen this year, they should take whatever they can get. Or else, Minnesota’s veteran defensive end could be looking at a release because of his unwillingness to take a pay cut.