The Minnesota Vikings have made some bad trades over the course of their history. The first was surely sending Fran Tarkenton to the New York Giants in 1967, but deals to get Herschel Walker (1989) and send away Randy Moss (2005) are right alongside it.
In more recent years, as current general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has found his footing, there have been some bad trades. Former general manager Rick Spielman also made some regrettable deals, often to accumulate far too many late-round picks during the draft.
Across sports, all general managers and teams have bad trades on their resumes and in their history, no matter how far back you go. With that in mind, Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report was able to recently list out what he sees as the worst trade each NFL team has made over the last 10 years. Some are worse than others, but there was no lack of good candidates for every team.
Suggested worst Minnesota Vikings trade from the last 10 years misses the point entirely
For the Vikings' worst trade of the last 10 years, Knox went with the move to acquire quarterback Sam Bradford from the Philadelphia Eagles in September of 2016.
"Back in 2016, the Vikings were coming off an 11-win campaign and appeared to have found their franchise quarterback in Pro Bowler Teddy Bridgewater. Unfortunately, Bridgewater suffered a torn ACL in an August practice that cost him his entire 2016 campaign.
In panic mode, then-GM Rick Spielman traded for Bradford. Of course, the 2010 first overall pick (by the Rams) had his own lengthy injury history—including torn ACLs in 2013 and 2014—which is why the Eagles traded up for Carson Wentz in the 2016 draft and were willing to move Bradford afterward.
The Vikings surrendered a 2017 first-round pick and a conditional 2018 fourth-round pick. That's a lot for an oft-injured player who clearly wasn't considered Philly's QB of the future. In return, Minnesota got 17 starts over two seasons out of Bradford."
As Knox noted, the Vikings were coming off winning a division title in head coach Mike Zimmer's second season. They had a young quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater who looked likely to stay in place for a while.
During a late-August practice, Bridgewater went down with a serious leg injury (beyond a torn ACL) that cost him the 2016 season and set his career on a different course. If not for the quick actions of the Vikings' training staff in the moment, he might have lost part of his leg to amputation.
Bridgewater's injury left the Vikings with Shaun Hill as their No. 1 quarterback. Something had to be done, and Bradford was acquired on September 3rd. Hill started Week 1, a 25-16 victory over the Tennessee Titans, then Bradford took over for the rest of the season. A 5-0 start faded to an 8-8 finish, but Bradford was not anywhere near a problem as he led the league in completion percentage.
The draft picks the Eagles got from the Vikings for Bradford turned into defensive ends Derek Barnett and Josh Sweat, respectively. But Eagles general manager Howie Roseman knew he had the leverage on Spielman, and Spielman had a roster that was basically otherwise loaded.
If the Vikings had gone with Hill as their starting quarterback in 2016, the results would not have been good. Spielman might've been fired solely for negligence when it came to inaction after Bridgewater's injury.
A bad circumstance forced Spielman into "panic mode", as Knox called it, as if he had any other choice but to call Roseman with his proverbial tail between his legs.
The Bradford trade is not anywhere near among the worst moves Spielman made as Vikings' general manager, and there were plenty that deserved criticism. And it's not even close to the worst trade the Vikings have made over the last 10 years, when accounting for a draft trade Adofo-Mensah made in his first year as general manager.