The Vikings’ Trade Options at Right Guard
Per Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap, there are some options at right guard if there’s an interest in Eagan, Minnesota.
The NFL cap expert published a piece back on October 1st titled “Possible Trade Targets and Costs.” The Vikings’ roster doesn’t have too many notable weak spots, but one wonders about the right guard position. After all, PFF is listing starter Ed Ingram at 61st among 71 guards in their ranking, suggesting that the third-year starter hasn’t elevated in the manner that many hoped. Does a trade make sense?
The Vikings’ RG Spot & The Trade Market
In an ideal world, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah won’t need to part with any other picks.
The GM is currently sitting on just three for 2025. The total should get bumped to four once the compensatory wizards do their thing, but the current trade ammo looks to be scarce. Simply leaning on Mr. Ingram or looking to an in-house replacement — Dan Feeney or Dalton Risner, assuming he can come back from injury — may be preferable.
Let’s assume, however, that there’s a willingness to really go for it in 2024. After all, 5-0 starts don’t grow on trees — at least not of the Minnesota variety — and there’s a loaded division that’s putting the pressure on.
For the sake of argument, let’s say a trade ends up being the preferred route for the Vikings’ GM. Who could he reasonably pursue?
Well, OTC seeks to narrow down the list of probable trade targets with some common sense criteria. Fitzgerald offers his rationale for who gets included: “I thought it would be good to compile a list of all players on teams that are either 1-3 or 0-4 who are set to become free agents in 2025.” In other words, players who could reasonably leave for nothing — or, potentially, a compensatory pick, as Fitzgerald acknowledges — who are operating on teams that don’t appear to be going anywhere.
Since publication, the team records have obviously changed since some games have been played, but let’s stick to the criteria of losing teams with impending free agents. Who could get onboarded at right guard specifically?
A name that jumps out immediately is Brandon Scherff. The 32-year-old was picked at No. 5 back in 2015 and has had a wonderful NFL career. He’s playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars — a team sitting at 1-5 — and has an illustrious resume that includes making the Pro Bowl five times and the All Pro team a single time. He hasn’t allowed sack or QB hit all season in 299 snaps at right guard and has an impressive 69.7 pass-block grade.
At the time of publication for the OTC piece, a projected cap cost for onboarding Scherff was expected to be $1,361,111. Keep in mind that Minnesota did business with Jacksonville at last year’s deadline by trading away left guard Ezra Cleveland.
Oh, and the cherry on top? Kevin O’Connell overlapped with him in Washington. The pair will know each other.
Another name to monitor is Will Hernandez. Arizona finds itself at 2-4 but their right guard has been playing well. He clocks in at 18th in the PFF rankings for his tidy work in his 280 snaps at RG. He hasn’t allowed a sack or QB hit and was a former 2nd-Round selection. At 29, he’s a bit younger and has exceptional size at 6’2″, 332.
Bringing him in would cost somewhere around $2,775,000, at least per the estimate within the OTC piece on October 1st. Minnesota can accommodate a heftier cap charge since there’s currently $11.2 million in open room (a number that changes all the time).
To be sure, there are more names to consider beyond just the brief highlights in this piece. Adofo-Mensah will be well aware of what his options are and will be responding accordingly. The end result could be a simple “no,” instead preferring to roll with the in-house options, but the man is sitting on twenty-three trades in his career.
The NFL’s trade deadline takes place on November 5th. Until then, feel free to check out the brief Minnesota Vikings trade primer on PurplePTSD.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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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, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.
