With three days left until the NFL Draft, more noise surfaced about the future of edge rusher Jonathan Greenard. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that trade talks had resumed with Greenard, more specifically with the Philadelphia Eagles.

A trade has been on the table for about six weeks, and it’s dominated a lot of the discussion with the Vikings. Greenard is the best player on the Vikings’ defense, which makes the proposition of trading him that much more difficult.

Kevin O’Connell and Rob Brzezinski don’t calm Jonathan Greenard trade rumors

Monday didn’t just bring the trade rumors of Greenard; it also gave us both head coach Kevin O’Connell and interim general manager Rob Brzezinski talking to the media.

O’Connell was the first of the two to talk, and he said that nothing has changed since the owners meetings.

“I had a conversation with him last week. We’re trying to keep our conversations and dialogue going. I have such a good relationship with Jonathan. He’s been so impactful on me personally, one of our leaders. He knows exactly how I feel about him, how we feel about him as an organization, and I’ll continue to have that dialogue and ongoing dialogue as we move forward. But it’s been good, and I think Jonathan’s really respected at least the point of view that our dialogue brings and the clarity, and he knows that I’m always a phone call away.”

Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell

That is a relatively boilerplate answer from O’Connell, something that we are used to seeing from him. Brzezinski’s comments were a little more pointed about his future with the team.

“I mean, JG’s a great player. I expect JG to be here. There’s been speculation. There’s conversations that take place with respect to players all the time on rosters. And for some reason, sometimes some things get public and other times they don’t. But he’s a really good player and a special person and a leader. And we’re really happy he’s a part of our team.”

Vikings interim GM Rob Brzezinski

Neither quote is necessarily bad or signals that Greenard will be gone, but there is one thing that neither O’Connell nor Brzezinski did: deny the rumors.

They both had a chance to shut down the rumors and tell everyone that Greenard was going to unequivocally be with the Vikings next season. Unfortunately, they chose not to do that. It tells me that these talks are very real, and could end up manifesting in a trade during the NFL Draft.

Is that good process? That is up to interpretation, but Greenard should be with the Vikings long-term, something that is unlikely to happen.