Is Trae Waynes entering his final season with the Vikings?
By Luke Parrish
Can the Vikings live without Waynes?
When the Vikings add depth at cornerback, they subsequently add replacements at the same time. Spending early draft capital on the position shows its importance to the team in more ways than one.
Sure, you add more pieces to the defense. At the same time, if any of the picks do not pan out, there’s always insurance.
That’s pretty much where Minnesota stands right now. They enter the 2019 season with three first-round cornerbacks and a second-round pick in Mackensie Alexander. With Trae Waynes entering a contract year, the rest of the team’s young corners have to prove themselves this season.
If Waynes continues to progress at the same rate this year, he will almost certainly get lucrative offers in free agency during the 2020 offseason.
Whether or not the Vikings can afford to bring him back is a question for another day. But if they let him walk, they should feel comfortable enough moving forward. Years of drafting help has set them up nicely if a departure happens.
Mike Hughes showed flashes as a rookie before going down with an injury last season and Alexander has been impressive so far during this year’s training camp. A future of Rhodes and Hughes on the outside with Alexander in the nickel seems more than plausible for Minnesota.
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Keeping Waynes beyond this season would give the Vikings more help, but losing him would not be the end of the world. Hopefully, for his sake, he takes a big leap in 2019 and secures the bag.