Due seemingly in equal parts to the team's asking price and his desire for a pay raise, the buzz around the Minnesota Vikings potentially trading veteran edge rusher Jonathan Greenard has faded recently.
That said, as free agency slows and the draft approaches, things could ramp back up as potential suitors assess themselves and reconsider their part of the conversation. Even still, the Vikings may not be willing to move Greenard for anything less than an offer they absolutely can't refuse.
Which isn't to say an offer like that won't come before or maybe even during the draft. But it might be what it'll take to get Greenard.
On a recent episode of "Purple Daily" on SKOR North, in light of the piece Alex Lewis of The Athletic did to assess it, the situation with Greenard was discussed from multiple angles.
Another reason the Minnesota Vikings won't trade Jonathan Greenard this offseason might be hiding in plain sight
After co-host Judd Zulgad talked about how the Vikings might handle Greenard from a contractual standpoint moving forward, Darren Wolfson of KSTP offered a different take.
"I don’t think the Vikings are ready for Dallas Turner. Even though, you look at the last half of last year, I mean, there’s a sense that Dallas Turner is ready to ascend even more. But I’m not sure, internally, they are ready for Dallas Turner to play 55 to 62-ish snaps in a game. And who else do you have?"
"Now, I suppose if you trade Greenard, okay, Dallas ascends up, he’ll play that much more. You can go sign a street free agent, there’s still some guys available, or use a draft pick on somebody that can rush the quarterback from the edge."
"But I just I don’t think they’re ready for Dallas to have like a significantly bigger role. I’m getting into semantics, right? Because is he going to have a bigger role in 26? Yes. I’m not suggesting otherwise, but a much bigger role? I’m not sure they’re ready for that.”
After he hardly played as a rookie in 2024 (an even 300 defensive snaps), Turner had an expected bigger role last season (702 defensive snaps; good for a 65.6 percent snap share). Some of that was driven by Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel each missing five games, with no overlap, but Turner also delivered eight sacks, 11 tackles for loss, and four forced fumbles.
Using Wolfson's "55 to 62-ish snaps" benchmark, Turner played 50-65 defensive snaps in a game five times last season, with none after Week 11. His seven highest snap shares came, as expected, in games either Greenard or Van Ginkel missed.
What exactly a bigger role will look like for Turner next season is unclear. But if the Vikings truly aren't ready to give him another 10 percent of the snaps, let's say, that is notable. Add in how they would also have to bring in another edge rusher who's capable of filling a notable role if they trade Greenard, and we have more tea leaves that say a move isn't happening.