The Minnesota Vikings made a big gamble this offseason when they traded Jonathan Greenard to the Philadelphia Eagles. One of the biggest sources of pressure in Brian Flores’s defense, dealing away a top player didn’t seem to be a wise choice -- especially for the return of two third-round picks. It made even less sense when interim general manager Rob Brzezinski made a damning proclamation after the deal was consummated during this year’s NFL Draft.
“He’s an impact player. It’s something we understand is not making the Minnesota Vikings a better team today,” Brzezinski said via the Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling. “But there’s a lot of factors involved, and particularly with economics, we were able to reach a resolution that made sense for the Vikings.
“We’re going to miss him. We’re happy he was able to get himself a new contract, but this is not something we’re jumping around excitedly about. We did feel like it was the best thing for the organization moving forward.”
With fans believing the Vikings got rid of Chris Doleman and Jared Allen in their prime, Greenard’s departure created plenty of questions. But it also gave Dallas Turner the chance to show that he is the solution during the opening weeks of training camp and in his preseason debut.
Dallas Turner has already been turning heads during Minnesota Vikings’ training camp
Turner has been a beast during this year’s training camp, looking bigger and more explosive entering his third season. While he recorded eight sacks last season, many of them were in the same “clean-up” variety that his takedown of Jaxon Dart was during Saturday’s preseason opener against the New York Giants, but there were several other things on display.
Pro Football Focus was one outlet that gave Turner a positive review, grading him as the best edge rusher on the team with a 73.4 overall grade. While it comes with a small sample size of six defensive snaps, the hard work has also shown up in camp, with Andrew Van Ginkel noting Turner has also taken the leadership role that Greenard left behind.
“Dallas is attacking it the right way,” Van Ginkel told Goessling. “He’s taking that leadership role knowing he’s the next man up. He learned a lot from [Greenard]. JG was a great example to our room last year. Me and Dallas are using his techniques and new stuff that [defensive running game coordinator] Ryan [Nielsen] is bringing to the defense.”
Turner’s breakout could make Vikings forget about Jonathan Greenard
If Turner can fulfill his long-awaited breakout, it could be a big lift for the Vikings' defense. Taken with the 17th overall pick in the 2024 draft, Turner played sparingly with 302 snaps, 12 pressures and three sacks during his rookie season. His sophomore year was another step in the right direction as he filled in for Greenard as he battled a shoulder injury, logging 42 total pressures with eight sacks in 702 defensive snaps.
But the bigger challenge may be filling Greenard’s shoes. Greenard recorded 12 sacks, 80 total pressures and made the Pro Bowl in his first season with the Vikings in 2024. While last year’s campaign was marred by injury, he still was productive with 47 pressures and 3.5 sacks in 270 pass-rushing snaps.
Even with his issues in tackling, Greenard was a key cog in the Vikings' defense. His departure also creates some depth issues that the Vikings could still address by bringing in an external free agent. But if things are going to work out, they’re going to need Turner to produce, and it’s not a coincidence that The Athletic’s Alec Lewis noted that Turner looked “incredibly motivated” so far during camp.
With Greenard currently on the Eagles’ physically unable to perform list due to a pectoral injury, Turner has an even bigger chance to have the Vikings come out on top of that trade. If he breaks out in the process, it could mean great things for him and the defense going forward.
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