It was one of the bigger trade deadline deals in recent Vikings history, but if not for the fact they were acquiring a 25-year-old player on a rookie contract, it’s worth wondering whether the Vikings would have made it. They’d built a big lead in the NFC North and were fighting for the conference’s top seed, but they were also aware of the decisions that awaited them on veterans like Eric Kendricks and Adam Thielen and their uncertain future at quarterback. Those factors strapped a seat belt over the Vikings’ win-now ambitions in 2022, and even after a 13-4 season, they cut Thielen and Kendricks, before trading Za’Darius Smith and releasing Dalvin Cook.
Hockenson signed a four-year, $66 million extension in August 2023 and will play his first game this season against the Colts after recovering from a torn ACL. The team he rejoins next Sunday, like the team he first joined in 2022, might have reason to be bold with constraints at the deadline.
The Vikings have achieved their first-half success with the NFL’s fifth-oldest roster, full of veterans who’ve delivered impressive results on one-year contracts. That’s helped the Vikings remain in playoff contention after moving on from Kirk Cousins, with Sam Darnold having the best season of his career, but it also means their window isn’t fully open yet.
They face decisions on their top three cornerbacks (Stephon Gilmore, Byron Murphy Jr. and Shaq Griffin), who are all free agents after the season, and running back Aaron Jones will hit the open market again after his 30th birthday in December. Valuable role players like Kamu Grugier-Hill, Jihad Ward, Jonathan Bullard and Johnny Mundt will be free agents, and the Vikings will have to decide on a long-term deal for safety Camryn Bynum right as Harrison Smith becomes a free agent weeks after his 36th birthday. And if J.J. McCarthy is ready to take over after returning from his torn right meniscus, the Vikings could be in line for another QB transition next year.
Cousins’ departure figures to net them a third-round compensatory pick next year, but the Vikings currently have only their first-rounder and two fifth-rounders. They’ll have more cap space than in years, with upward of $60 million to build their roster, but they need long-term answers at cornerback, help on the defensive line, a succession plan at running back and possibly another pass-catcher to ease McCarthy’s transition, in addition to defensive depth and a possible short-term fill-in for Darrisaw.
It’s enough that if the Vikings make a big move at the trade deadline, they could be inclined to focus on players who gave them what Hockenson did in 2022: immediate help with long-term flexibility. For example: Browns cornerback Greg Newsome II is just 24, with a fifth-year option for 2025. He wouldn’t come cheap, but a young corner who’d fit the Vikings’ scheme might be worth dealing the 2025 first-round pick, especially if the choice could be late in the first round.
