The Long-and-Strong Corner the Vikings Should Try to Pry Away from Sinking Ship
If a certain draft domino falls early, the Vikings should hop on the phone.
Cleveland is currently sitting at No. 2 after a yet another futile season (largely by their own doing). The Browns, quite possibly, could use their highest pick on Travis Hunter, the college stud who played both receiver and corner at a high level. The addition of Hunter would suddenly make their CB room a bit crowded, leading to an opening for Minnesota to start the negotiations.
The Vikings Should be Calling about a Cleveland Corner
Previously, the discussion has come up on PurplePTSD (Exhibit A & Exhibit B). Making a move for CB Greg Newsome II has its appeal.
Start off with just the basic details. The corner is moving into his fifth season in the NFL and yet he’s only 24. Consider, as a point of comparison, that Mekhi Blackmon is already 26. Working in Newsome’s favor is that he has a bit of size, standing at 6’0″ while weighing 192 pounds. Not huge, but good size. Brian Flores, like every defensive coordinator, would welcome the added size along the outside.
Last year, the Cleveland corner played in thirteen games while starting a trio. Prior to 2024, he had always been a starter, so the drop off isn’t a particularly positive sign for his time with the Browns. He picked up 27 tackles, 1 interception, and 5 passes defended.
The advanced defensive statistics on PFR indicate that he was targeted 51 times, allowing 32 completions for 491 yards. That works out to a 62.7 completion percentage alongside 15.3 yards per catch, a career-worst mark. His pass rating allowed was up at 112.5 and he allowed 4 touchdowns, both career-worst marks.
Buy low?
Keep in mind that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was in Cleveland’s front office when Greg Newsome was brought into the NFL. At No. 26 in the 2021 NFL Draft, Newsome became a Brown.
A major positive, at least for a team like the Vikings, is that Newsome is capable of moving around the secondary. His career has involved picking up 1,418 snaps as a boundary corner and then 1,148 snaps in the slot. He has moved into the box for 316 snaps while then getting 45 along the d-line and 11 at free safety.
Again, someone who could be appealing to Flores. Youth, size, the Kwesi connection, versatility, and a history as a high pick.
The key, of course, is cost.
Consider the most obvious meaning of that word. Moving forward, the Browns are still in a world of hurt with their salary cap due to the awful Deshaun Watson trade (honestly, folks, it could go down as the worst trade in NFL history). One way of putting a bit more flexibility into the budget would be to move on from Greg Newsome, who is carrying a $13,377,000 cap charge.
All of that cap hit would be cleared with a trade.
The 2025 season is the final one on Newsome’s deal. One wonders, then, if a trade would come with an extension. Doing so would give the acquiring team some short-term breathing room while giving both sides (player and team) some certainty moving forward together.
The Vikings should, at the very least, be considering a move for Greg Newsome II. The still-young corner has a lot to offer and fills a position of need. For whatever it’s worth, the defender was included among the Vikings’ trade candidates in a piece for Vikings Territory.
Missing on coveted corners in the 1st and 3rd could prompt Minnesota to pickup the phone to see if the Browns are willing to do business.
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 social media (Bluesky & Twitter). If you feel so inclined, subscribe to his Substack, The Vikings Gazette, for more great Vikings content.