Jordan Addison finds himself overlooked by bogus internet theory that many fans actually agree with
Free agency has been good to the Minnesota Vikings thanks to the moves made by general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. He's made believers out of a lot of people with his excellent haul over the first two days of free agency. When free agency occurs, there are crazy rumors and theories that surface. You get random […]
Free agency has been good to the Minnesota Vikings thanks to the moves made by general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. He's made believers out of a lot of people with his excellent haul over the first two days of free agency.
When free agency occurs, there are crazy rumors and theories that surface. You get random people trying to be insiders on social media. There was a crazy one floated out there that many Vikings fans started to cling to where they would trade for New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner.
Nobody else is claiming this to be true, so it's just speculation masked as a rumor. However, there were plenty who ran with it.
Could the Vikings trade Jordan Addison?
One of the first things that people did when they saw the rumor about the Vikings traded for Gardner was start opining about a potential trade. What would Adofo-Mensah and the Vikings have to give up in order to acquire Gardner? The name that started circulating was Jordan Addison.
Now, a trade wouldn't just be Addison, it would likely include a large amount of draft capital. That makes this very absurd. Sure, Addison has the two moving violations during his short NFL career, but that's not a reason to trade him.
There are a multitude of reasons why the Vikings shouldn't even consider trading Addison.
Jordan Addison is on a rookie contract
Right now, Addison is about to enter the third year of his rookie contract. His cap hit is only $3.75 million in 2025 and the Vikings are going to have two more seasons of Addison on an inexpensive salary cap hit.
Now, the Vikings are likely to exercise the fifth year option on Addison next May when that time comes. If the Vikings were to trade him, they would incur nearly $3.5 million in dead cap because of the trade. Giving up a valuable asset that is also inexpensive wouldn't be a smart move by the Vikings.
Jordan Addison is a vertical threat
It's no secret to anyone that Addison is a very good receiver. He does a little bit of everything for you as a receiver and compares very well to Justin Jefferson in terms of playstyle. Nobody thinks that Addison is as good as Jefferson, but they are good at the same things.
Attacking down the field has become a forte of Addison. He graded out extremely well on deep throws, catching 12-of-28 passes for 448 yards and four touchdowns on passes that travel 20+ yards down the field. The below chart has it broken down, but is missing the outside right quadrant for deep passes. He caught five-of-eight targets for 229 yards and two touchdowns.
While Addison isn't a burner down the field, he's excellent at going vertical. His first two touchdown receptions came in his rookie season on post routes. That has continued throughout his first two seasons with how well he controls his speed and tempo paired with great tracking.
This is something that Addison has done incredibly well over his first two seasons. He sees the ball through the air as well as anyone and attacks it at the catch point.
One element that is also overlooked with Addison is his strength. Coming out of USC, Addison weighed just 173 lbs, but his frame is compact and much stronger than he appears. He doesn't get bullied at the catch point and attacks the football. This past season, Addison was very good at contested catches, catching 12-of-22 contested targets this past season.
Speaking of attacking the ball at the catch point, Addison is very good at doing just that. He isn't just able to attack the football in the air; Addison keeps himself under control. His movements are intentional across the board, and he doesn't waste a step in his routes.
Nuanced route running
As mentioned earlier, Addison is very similar in archetype and playstyle to Jefferson. Having a second player who can do some of the things that Jefferson does in terms of route running and creating separation is a cheat code for the Vikings.
Not only is Addison a really good route runner, but head coach Kevin O'Connell uses their abilities off each other. Addison eases coverage on Jefferson and in turn, he springs open Addison for easy catches.
The route running is great from both players, but this is about Addison. I could gush about the greatness of Jefferson for hours.
He understands how to stick his feet in the ground and explode out of his breaks with both his feet and dipping his hips to create separation. A great example of this is how Addison runs the out route. He gets separation by coming out of his break quickly and understands when to attack the football.
There isn't a single wasted movement on that route, a calling card for Addison in how he gets open down the field. Out routes are one that he ran a lot in college and it's translated to the NFL.
It's not just about running a crisp, consistent route. It's also about understanding subtitle nuance and using proper angles to create those extra inches of separation. How Addison takes a slight angle instead of running straight ahead on the below route is so good and the cornerback is cooked from the jump.
When you look at Jefferson's stats, his production hasn't waned since Addison's arrival. What it has done is made things easier for Jefferson to have free releases and single coverage. If you put all of your eggs in the basket of stopping Jefferson, you then have to deal with Addison on the other side. He's been incredibly consistent across his career.
- 2023: 104 targets, 70 receptions, 911 yards, 10 touchdowns, 3 drops
- 2024: 100 targets, 66 catches, 904 yards, 9 touchdowns, 4 drops
Only seven drops in two years is huge and something that has been a constant with Addison over his career. Going into his third season, Addison isn't just a value for the Vikings, he's an emerging star that will soon be able to take over games and be considered nationally the great threat that he is.
Trading Addison now for anything outside of a large haul of draft picks with J.J. McCarthy set to be the starting quarterback would be organizational malpractice. McCarthy has a bevy of weapons at his disposal is exactly what you want and taking that away for a cornerback — no matter how good — would be an awful decision that doesn't fit the motif of the current regime.
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