This offseason for the Minnesota Vikings was more about getting rid of assets that were considered too expensive, but one of those that was dumped might end up haunting them for years to come.
During the 2026 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings made the fateful decision to trade edge rusher Jonathan Greenard and a seventh-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for two third-round picks. While ESPN senior NFL writer Bill Barnwell understands why Minnesota moved Greenard for financial reasons, what the Eagles offered him could have prevented the Vikings from agreeing to the trade.
"The Vikings were facing a difficult cap situation this offseason, but the four-year, $98 million deal Greenard signed with the Eagles is structured in a team-friendly manner. Greenard will have cap hits of $6.2 million in 2026 and $11.1 million in 2027. The Eagles will face a potential dead cap hit for Greenard well down the line, but the Vikings could have opted to give Greenard this same deal while reducing his cap number by nearly $16 million in 2026 and more than $11 million in 2027 in the process. I understand wanting to open up more snaps for Turner, but for what they landed and what they apparently needed to pay Greenard to make him happy, I'd rather have kept one of my best players around for another year or two."
The Minnesota Vikings could have found a way to keep edge rusher Jonathan Greenard if they wanted to
Philly is already looking like massive winners from the trade since they got rid of a 2027 third-round pick to the Vikings, which won't mean anything since the Eagles are getting a compensatory third-round selection next year for Jaelan Phillips signing with the Carolina Panthers. It's made even worse that Greenard is going to have a combined $17 million cap hit over the next two years.
The Vikings were probably ready to move forward with Dallas Turner since he was more available than Greenard was last year and is starting to show potential. Andrew Van Ginkel also makes it easy on Minnesota as he can pair up with Turner off the edges, which is a formidable team.
What's more frustrating for Vikings fans is that they could have kept Greenard and had all three without breaking the bank. Sure, more guaranteed money would probably have to be paid up front, but they could have saved money against the cap if they offered what the Eagles did.
Instead, the Vikings traded a Pro Bowl-caliber pass rusher to a team that didn't even give them a second-round pick. Turner better turn into a Pro Bowler himself, or this deal might be brought up for years as a blunder of a move.
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