6 players the Vikings should consider trading before the deadline

Linval Joseph – DT

Thanks to the Vikings’ salary cap situation setting up to be pretty terrible in 2020, Linval Joseph could a player the team looks into letting go to free up some much-needed cap space.

For 2020, Joseph is scheduled to have a cap hit of almost $13 million. That number seems a little too high for a defensive tackle that is heading into the backend of his professional football career.

Minnesota dealing Joseph before the deadline would depend a lot on the team’s confidence in their interior defensive line depth.

The Vikings have a bunch of talented, young defensive tackles in Jaleel Johnson, Jalyn Holmes, and Hercules Mata’afa. If Joseph were to be traded, Minnesota could always shift Shamar Stephen over to be their nose tackle and have one of the younger guys take over as the team’s primary three-technique.

The Vikings’ defense has done very well against the run this season, so dealing Joseph could weaken that strength of the unit.

Trading their veteran defensive tackle before the deadline would be more about the future than for the current season. Joseph getting dealt doesn’t seem very likely, but there’s always the chance of a team calling up Minnesota and making them an offer they can’t refuse.