Spielman Talks Trade With Deadline on The Horizon

We’ll soon know what our Vikings will or won’t do at the trade deadline. The official deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 2 at 4 p.m. (ET). That means there’s a week for our Vikings to make any moves they deem necessary and/or beneficial. Unsurprisingly, Rick Spielman participated in some trade talk in his recent interviews with the media.

Spielman confirmed that there’s “always a lot of calls this time of year.” Cameron Dantzler has been one of the main sources of speculation, and we’ll soon find out if he gets moved. I, for one, think it’s a possibility that makes very little sense, but I’m not the one calling the shots in Minnesota.

During his trade talk, Spielman addressed how it can be difficult for a new player to learn a new system on the fly: “Unlike other professional sports, whether it be baseball and sometimes basketball or other areas, this is such an 11-on-11 team game that it takes some time to create that chemistry.” He goes on: “The way our defense kind of started out a little slowly and the way you see our defense has really started to come together, especially over these last couple weeks and how well they’re playing, I think the last two games we’ve created five turnovers.”

What he’s saying makes a lot of sense. An NFL trade isn’t as simple as just sending a pick for a player. That player will need to come in and undertake a pretty sizable intellectual challenge in order to become an on-field contributor. It then takes time for that player to become a fit in the broader system. Finding someone who comes from a similar scheme or who has had past experience with a Minnesota coach would therefore be advantageous.

Following the Weatherly move, Minnesota has a little more than $5 million in cap space. It’s not a lot, folks. One way to create more room, if necessary, is to shuffle around money for a player like Eric Kendricks, someone with multiple years left on his deal and who is a key part of our team’s success. It’s also notable that cutting Mason Cole would free up his entire salary. In other words, the Vikings have some options if they need more cash.

I don’t know if Spielman will make another trade, but I do know that the deadline is always reason for excitement and hope. Stay tuned, Vikings fans.