Vikings, Kwesi Will Need to Slightly Adjust Trade Approach During the Season
K. Joudry
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Truth be told, things aren’t likely to change too much for the Vikings.
One of the changes to come out of the Annual League Meeting is that the trade deadline is being pushed back. Josh Frey covers that news on PurplePTSD, explaining, “Typically, the NFL trade deadline has occurred on the Tuesday following Week 8 of the regular season. However, that is being pushed back a week this year and will occur on the Tuesday after Week 9 instead.”
At this point, Vikings fans are well aware of their general manager’s tendencies. The man loves to pull off swaps, as his twenty trades in a bit more than two years demonstrate.
Is there a sense that the adjusted deadline is going to impact Minnesota?
Vikings & Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Facing a New Trade Deadline Date
Since taking over as the Vikings’ GM, Adofo-Mensah hasn’t sat on the sidelines for any of the main trading periods.
Generally speaking, there are three times when trades are most prominent: during the NFL Draft, the end of the preseason when rosters get trimmed, and at the NFL trade deadline. The beginning of a new league year can also spur action, as we saw when the team’s GM pulled off a stunning trade with the Texans for an extra 1st.
Bringing things around to the in-season trade deadline specifically brings a trio of examples to mind. Adofo-Mensah has done these deadline deals in his two seasons:
- Acquiring T.J. Hockenson
- Acquiring Joshua Dobbs
- Trading Away Ezra Cleveland
Cam Akers was picked up from the Rams during the season, but it would be misleading to say he was a deadline pickup since that trade occurred well in advance of the fateful date.
Any chance we see more trade activity from Adofo-Mensah before the 2024 deadline arrives?
One thing we can say with certainty about Minnesota’s top decision maker is that he craves information. In Adofo-Mensah’s ideal world, there will be a robust helping of information standing behind his decisions, thus allowing him to parse through the evidence to do what (in collaboration with his staff) he thinks is best for the Vikings.
In theory, the team’s GM could use that extra week of the season as added fact-finding time. If the team falters, there could be more of an appeal to selling; if the team thrives, there could be more of an emphasis on adding talent.
And then, of course, one thinks of getting another game under the team’s belt as a way of further understanding the roster health.
Dobbs got added to help shore up a quarterback room that was ransacked by injury. Meanwhile, Cleveland got sent out partly because an injury replacement — the still unsigned Dalton Risner — proved to be a strong LG1. So, health plays into trade deadline activity.
At present, there are far more pressing matters than the NFL trade deadline, an event that’s many months into the future. In particular, there is the draft, an event that has prompted the GM to orchestrate nine trades in the past (and that’s not including the earlier Houston trade, which would push things to ten).
Just keep this one tucked away in the back of your mind. Under Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s leadership, the Vikings are very active on the trade market, so it’s noteworthy when the trade deadline adjusts its date.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.