As Trade Rumors Swirl, Jonathan Greenard Earns a Snazzy New Job
EDGE1 Jonathan Greenard is moving into an uncertain future, at least as it relates to his roster spot in Minnesota. What isn’t uncertain is the respect he commands around the NFL.
The excellent pass rusher earned a new job from within the NFLPA. Ben Goessling of The Star Tribune shared the news alongside a quick comment, writing, “The NFLPA’s new executive committee includes #Vikings edge rusher Jonathan Greenard and former Vikings defensive tackle Harrison Phillips.”
Jonathan Greenard Now a Leader on NFLPA
Fun fact: NFL players are part of a union. Doing so gives them collective power when working toward a CBA.
Mr. Greenard is a veteran defender who operates with an unusual degree of ruggedness, effort, and physicality. Sometimes, football circles see those words tossed out so commonly that they lose all meaning. With Greenard, though, they happen to be true. He’s not the world’s greatest athlete but he really does have a fantastic motor. Effort and toughness are abundant within his game.
Players around the NFL evidently respect Jonathan Greenard.
Tom Pelissero of The NFL Network chimed-in when seeing the news, similarly noting Greenard’s addition. He then clarifies who else is on the committee: “They join Oren Burks, Cam Heyward, Ted Karras, Case Keenum, Brandon McManus and Thomas Morstead, who were all re-elected.” Of those names, Case Keenum jumps out due to his part in making Minnesota football history.
In all likelihood, Minnesota’s best move is to hang onto Jonathan Greenard.
Trading him now would mean doing so after he battled through a season where he has slowed down by injury, contributing to an unusually modest 3 sacks. Worst yet, he’s looking for an adjusted deal since he’s demanding $19 million per season (a bargain for a strong EDGE1). The trade return appears unlikely to be too good to turn down even if recouping $12.25 million in cap space has its appeal.
A better solution could involve pursuing the T.J. Hockenson path.
Keeping the well-paid TE1 involved redoing his deal. More specifically, Minnesota got a pay cut out of Hockenson while then eliminating the final season of his agreement. He’s now moving into a contract season, allowing him to venture into free agency a year earlier. Hockenson, in theory, can go nuclear in 2026 before cashing in on a major contract next offseason.
As it relates to Greenard, the Vikings should consider doing likewise.
Pushing him to cut his pay isn’t reasonable since he’s already underpaid. What could be better would be a modest bump up for the ’26 season while agreeing to set him free next March. He can then move into the open market. Ideally, he’ll do so after a healthy 2026 that involves his usual level of dominance.
Trading Jonathan Greenard would mean losing the team’s top pass rusher. Dallas Turner would get bumped up, but he’s not as good as the veteran (the drop off is pretty large). Even with the struggles to finish sacks last year, Mr. Greenard finished off with a very healthy 74.2 grade on PFF.
At 28, Jonathan Greenard has a lot of good football left in him. He is listed 6’3″ and 259. He was a Pro Bowl player in 2024 while quietly earning some modest attention in the Defensive Player of the Year competition, finishing at 11th.
A basic truth: moving on from Greenard means looking for someone precisely like Greenard. Could be best to keep him.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
