For the last few weeks, Minnesota Vikings edge rusher Jonathan Greenard has been the subject of trade rumors. It's been nothing more than rumors, but Greenard is reportedly looking for a pay raise this offseason, and if the Vikings are unable to give him what he wants, then some believe the team will attempt to send him elsewhere this year.
At the owners meetings in Phoenix, AZ, on Monday, we finally got an update from the team as Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell answered a question about whether or not he believes Greenard will be on the Vikings' roster next season.
"Yeah, I expect him to be part of our team.
I know there's always conversations. There's conversations this week. There's conversations throughout the offseason, and we'll continue to kind of attack things at the different phases.
We're getting ready to really jump heavily into draft meetings when we get back. But at the same time, we're always going to try to do what's best for our team and also what we think is best for each one of our individual players.
That's an ongoing thing throughout every offseason."
Jonathan Greenard expected back with the Minnesota Vikings for the 2026 season (for now)
If we believe what O'Connell shared on Monday (it's okay if you don't), then Greenard should be a part of Minnesota's roster when the team steps back on the field for the 2026 season in September.
The Vikings first joined forces with the veteran pass rusher in the 2024 offseason when he signed a four-year contract worth $72 million. Prior to teaming up with Minnesota, he spent the first four seasons of his NFL career as a member of the Houston Texans.
In his first year with the Vikings, he proved to be a great fit for the aggressive scheme run by Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores. During the 2024 season, Greenard accumulated 59 tackles (18 for a loss), 42 pressures, 12 sacks, four forced fumbles, and three pass deflections in 17 games.
2025 was a different story, however.
Injuries limited Greenard to just 10 starts last season, and he only managed to finish with 24 pressures and three sacks.
Despite his decrease in production last year, Greenard still views himself as one of the top pass rushers in the NFL, and he wants to get paid like one.
Currently, the average annual value of his contract with the Vikings ($19 million) ranks 18th among all edge rushers in the league heading into the 2026 season.
Unfortunately for him, Minnesota isn't exactly financially capable of giving him the pay increase that he wants right now. As of Monday, the Vikings only have $12,889,039 in cap space , according to the NFLPA's website.
It's possible that Minnesota EVP and certified cap guru, Rob Brzezinski, could work some magic to squeeze in a new deal for Greenard in the near future.
But Brzezinski is also the Vikings' acting general manager right now, and his goal for the offseason seems more centered around setting up whoever the team hires to be its new general manager later this year for success.
Adding a bunch of void years to a new contract for Greenard or shuffling some money from other players' deals to create more cap space to extend the veteran edge rusher likely isn't something that Brzezinski would file under the category of setting up Minnesota's new general manager for success.
Perhaps a new deal, or at least some sort of resolution, could still get done between Greenard and the Vikings this year, but that's not a guarantee. Minnesota trading him this offseason still isn't out of the question either, despite O'Connell's comments on Monday.
O'Connell wasn't lying when he said that he currently expects Greenard to still be with the Vikings for the 2026 season.
At this moment in time, Greenard is under contract with Minnesota, so there's no incentive for the Vikings head coach to indicate anything otherwise and potentially hurt the trade value of the Pro Bowl pass rusher.