After improving their record to 6-2 this season by defeating the Indianapolis Colts this past Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings must now shift their attention to the 2024 trade deadline on Tuesday.
During the last few weeks, the Vikings have already made a pair of trades in an attempt to improve their roster. Minnesota acquired running back Cam Akers in a trade with the Houston Texans back on October 15th, and last Wednesday, the Vikings landed veteran left tackle Cam Robinson after making a deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
With Minnesota only having until 3 p.m. CST on Tuesday to make more trades this season, which players could the team still acquire in a last-minute deal?
Players the Minnesota Vikings could still land before the 2024 NFL trade deadline
Wyatt Teller - RG (Cleveland Browns)
Currently, the Vikings have arguably the worst starting right guard in the entire NFL in Ed Ingram. Following Minnesota's win over the Colts on Sunday, Ingram now ranks 78th among 82 qualifying guards in the league in PFF's pass-blocking efficiency measurement, and he's also allowed the fourth-most pressures among NFL guards this season.
In an effort to fix this problem at right guard, Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah should give his old friends over at the Cleveland Browns a call to see if they would be interested in moving on from Wyatt Teller.
The Browns are now 2-7 this year after losing another game on Sunday, and they're likely heading into an offseason that will be full of parting with older players who have expensive contracts. At the age of 29, Teller falls into that category, but he's still playing at a high level as he's been voted to the AFC's Pro Bowl roster in each of the last three years.
Teller would be an immediate upgrade over Ingram, and he would certainly help eliminate some of the interior pressure that Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold has been dealing with in the team's last few games.
Calais Campbell - DL (Miami Dolphins)
Generating pressure with their interior defensive linemen has been a struggle for the Vikings this season. Minnesota's best pass-rushing defensive lineman this year has been veteran Jihad Ward, and his pass-rush win rate ranks 48th in the NFL among 125 qualifying defensive linemen after Week 9.
Creating pressure with only four pass rushers would allow the Vikings defense to become even more dangerous this season, and someone who could help them accomplish this is Dolphins defensive lineman Calais Campbell.
At 38, Campbell is currently one of the oldest players in the league, but his ability to consistently play at a high level is what has allowed him to remain in the NFL for so long.
We mentioned earlier how Ward ranks 48th among the league's defensive linemen in pass rush win rate; well, after Week 9, Campbell ranks 11th in that category.
With his contract set to expire in 2025, it likely wouldn't take much for Minnesota to land the veteran defensive lineman from a Miami team that saw its record fall to 2-6 this past Sunday.
Jonathan Jones - CB (New England Patriots)
Overall, the Vikings' group of cornerbacks have been solid this season, but that doesn't mean that it's a position group the team should ignore if they have an opportunity to improve it before Tuesday's trade deadline.
With connections to Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores and corner Stephon Gilmore, Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones is someone who makes sense as a trade target for the Vikings.
Jones is 31, but he's still been able to hold his own during an abysmal New England season. He also has the ability to line up at multiple positions in the secondary, which is something that Flores loves to use to his advantage in his defense (see Josh Metellus).
A recent report from Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer indicated that the Patriots aren't interested in trading Jones before this year's deadline. But that could also be New England attempting to raise its asking price for him, and if that turns out to be something that isn't outrageous, the veteran corner could potentially be a member of Minnesota's roster by the end of the week.