Mackensie Alexander reportedly joining Trae Waynes in Cincinnati

Cornerback Mackensie Alexander won’t be returning to the Minnesota Vikings for 2020 as he has reportedly agreed to a deal with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Changes was expected to be the big theme of the offseason for the Minnesota Vikings and the past few days have certainly seen the team’s roster lose a number of solid contributors.

Add Mackensie Alexander to the list of players from the Vikings’ 2019 roster who won’t be returning for next season. Alexander has reportedly agreed to a one-year, $4 million deal with the Cincinnati Bengals according to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero on Thursday.

Alexander is the latest former Minnesota cornerback to take his talents to the Bengals as Trae Waynes also signed a deal with Cincinnati on Tuesday.

So With Alexander, Waynes, and Xavier Rhodes all out the door, the Vikings’ group of cornerbacks is going to look very different in 2020. Mike Hughes and Holton Hill are now in line to have bigger roles for Minnesota next season and Kris Boyd should see a significant increase in snaps as well.

With their latest departure, one can pretty much guarantee the Vikings will be using an early-round pick on a cornerback in this year’s NFL Draft. Minnesota has used a selection in the first or second round on a corner in three of the last five drafts and Mike Zimmer is likely going to want to add another with one of the team’s picks in the first three rounds this year.

It’s a bit interesting that Alexander’s contract with the Bengals isn’t really that pricey. If he and the Vikings truly wanted to get a deal done for him to stick around, it probably could have happened. But clearly, one of the two parties didn’t have any interest in figuring out a way for him to return.

As much as Minnesota has seen a number of familiar names already depart this offseason (especially in the secondary), their defense is still full of very talented players like Eric Kendricks, Danielle Hunter, Harrison Smith, and Anthony Harris.

Zimmer was able to come in and rebuild the Vikings’ defense when he first arrived in 2014. Now it appears as though he’s doing something similar and hoping for an outcome that, once again, has the unit ranking among the league’s best.