NFL insider links Minnesota Vikings to popular trade target in multiple ways, but it’s a long way from being a done deal
The NFL trade deadline is 18 days away, and steam is already building for multiple players for the Minnesota Vikings.
With the Minnesota Vikings being 5-0, the trade deadline has been a major topic of conversation. General manager Nolan Teasley is going into his second major deadline of his tenure, with the first being final cuts at the end of training camp.
There haven’t been opportunities to make huge moves so far, and the trade deadline could be where he makes his first big splash. One player that has been consistently connected to the Vikings has been Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport linked Teasley to Taylor by way of interim Colts general manager Ed Dodds.
“As far as the Jonathan Taylor thing, Ed Dodds does have ties to Seattle,” said Rapoport. “[He] knows John Schneider incredibly well. That’s that whole sort of like tree or whatever; it’s all sort of the same. By the way, same as Nolan Teasley, who’s in Minnesota. Wonder if they could use one as well.”
Jonathan Taylor could be available for the Minnesota Vikings
We know the Vikings could use a running back, and the Colts are likely going to be sellers. Even so, Rapoport believes the asking price will be high.
“If Jonathan Taylor is available, I would expect many teams to be interested. They don’t have a one because of Sauce [Gardner]. Like, that’s what they’re going to try to get back. And if they have the kind of market that players never have during the season, then like maybe they could get it. Maybe it’s a one, give a little something back,” said
“But I just know if you talk about whether Ed Dodds keeps the job, like he is a respected personnel guy, I know around the league people think highly of him. The trades are going to be part of the reason for how they determine it. So, if he does a great job, he gets a huge return, maximizes the value, like all of that matters. So if they do end up trading Taylor, I expect several teams to be interested, and I think the price will be high.”
Where things get interesting here is Rapoport talking about the price potentially being a first-round pick. Simply put: Turner isn’t worth a first-round pick. He may only be 27 years old, but Taylor has a lot of tread on the tired. Since he joined the Wisconsin Badgers in 2017, Taylor has carried the ball 2,599 times. With how much the running back position can fall off a cliff, that seems to be too much.
Now, would a second-round pick be worth it? That’s a very interesting question. Taylor would definitely give the Vikings’ running game, which hasn’t been either efficient or explosive so far, a home-run hitter to pair with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison.
The tough part for the Vikings will be how much interest there will be for him across the league. The more there is, the harder it will be to justify the price. They have four picks in the top-100, which will make it much easier to swing a deal, but you also want to maximize your NFL Draft output.
Either way, it’s worth paying attention to over the next couple of weeks.
