If the Vikings are going to continue their turnaround, it will be with the players currently on the roster.
Though some thought the Vikings could be in position to make a splash after upsetting the Detroit Lions last weekend to get back to .500 on the season, the team allowed the NFL’s trade deadline to pass without making any moves.
There won’t be any additional help walking through the door for the Vikings. No veteran quarterback to add more experience off the field. No physical cornerback to add more talent on the field.
Maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise considering Minnesota already boasts the most expensive roster in the NFL, with $344 million in active cash spending.
Instead, the Vikings will hope their additions can come from within, as injured players work their way back to full strength.
That is slowly but surely coming to fruition as quarterback J.J. McCarthy is back under center, left tackle Christian Darrisaw is bookending the offensive line opposite right tackle Brian O’Neill, and edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel is wreaking havoc wherever he lines up.
Asked this week if he thought the Vikings would potentially make a move of some sort, head coach Kevin O’Connell briefly broached the subject, then noted the roster is indeed getting healthier.
“It feels like a lot of the players are in this building right now,” O’Connell said. “They just are finally getting a chance to get out there with their teammates and play in the original intent of kind of what we hoped.”
As a former commodities trader on Wall Street in his past life, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah likely had a good grasp on how the market was playing out in real time.
There were a number of blockbuster deals in the hours leading up to the NFL’s trade deadline Tuesday afternoon, namely the New York Jets blowing up their defense by flipping cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys, netting a haul of draft picks in return.
The premiums paid in those trades might have altered the cost of doing business.
In the end, the Vikings decided to stand pat, moving forward with the roster they have in place.
Now the focus will shift to Minnesota’s home bout with the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday in a game that could go a long way in shaping the next couple of months.
With a win, the Vikings would find themselves firmly back in the postseason hunt.
A loss to Baltimore, however, and Minnesota would suddenly be back below .500 on the season, facing an uphill climb to nab a playoff spot in the NFC.
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