Former Vikings GM Highlights Young LB as a Minnesota Trade Target
K. Joudry
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Apart from safety, every position on the Vikings could use an upgrade.
There’s no surprise, then, when Jeff Diamond — a former Vikings GM — mentions Minnesota in his recent piece for The 33rd Team. In “6 Players Who Could By Traded Before 2023 Regular Season,” Diamond offers 3 players for each of the offense and defense before connecting the players to certain teams. Minnesota makes an appearance in the article. What’s the connection? None other than Patrick Queen of the Baltimore Ravens.
The Former Vikings GM and Baltimore’s Patrick Queen
Diamond offers a reasonable opinion on why Queen would make sense for the Vikings. Take a look:
The Minnesota Vikings are an interesting option. Queen would stay in a 3-4 defense and upgrade the Vikings’ linebacker corps for last year’s 31st-ranked defense. He’s seven years younger and a better player than Jordan Hicks.
The scheme fit and youth are certainly intriguing. Hicks is a solid veteran but it’s fair to wonder if he has a future in Minnesota beyond 2023. He’s going into the final year of his contract and he agreed to a pay cut during the offseason. Maybe he’ll stick around on a cheap deal in 2024 to provide solid run defense and a veteran presence, but Minnesota’s defense is rebuilding (the defense, not the whole team). Will they have room for the veteran?
Presumably, sophomore LB Brian Asamoah is going to be the starter beside Hicks. The young defender has been praised as a versatile chess piece during the offseason, and fans were impressed with his abilities last year. Working for Brian Flores should be a welcome change for Asamoah since he’s capable of doing multiple things well.
After the initial pair, there is a fair bit of uncertainty. Troy Reeder, Troy Dye, William Kwenkeu, Ivan Pace, and a few other depth players are battling for the final open slots. In all likelihood, the Vikings won’t be keeping more than four or five linebackers.
Diamond offers some rationale for why he thinks Patrick Queen may be departing Baltimore sooner rather than later:
There already are plenty of signs Queen could be traded. The Ravens paid big money to [Roquan] Smith, declined Queen’s fifth-year option and drafted Trenton Simpson in the third round of this year’s draft. Simpson is Queen’s likely replacement, which could happen sooner than later.
Queen was a durable and productive player for the past three years, and his ability to blitz effectively increases his value. He had his best year in 2022 with 117 tackles, five sacks, 14 quarterback hits and nine tackles for loss.
Given the presence of Flores at DC, the ability to blitz really jumps off the page. One could easily envision to new DC sending Queen — who ran a 4.5 forty — with great regularity.
Moreover, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has a history for targeting players exactly like Queen. The Baltimore defender is a highly-picked player coming from a team where things haven’t worked out optimally. He is on a cost-controlled, rookie deal and fills a position of need. Making things even better is that we’re discussing a player who is only 23.
An added bonus is that he has started every game of his 3-year NFL career (finishing 3rd in the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year voting in 2020).
Not too long ago, I highlighted a different linebacker from the 2020 NFL Draft: Isaiah Simmons. Just like Queen, Simmons is a young linebacker who went in the 1st round of a recent draft. He offers plenty of versatility and would instantly give the linebacker room some speedy depth and high-end competition.
Keep an eye on Kwesi. The young GM has never been shy about pulling off a major move, and there are plenty of intriguing names out there. Both Patrick Queen and Isaiah Simmons would be welcome additions to Minnesota’s defense.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.
