The Minnesota Vikings hit their Week 6 bye at 5-0, and that kind of start changes the trade deadline conversation fast. An unbeaten team doesn’t need to go shopping for headlines, but it also doesn’t mean every useful body on the roster suddenly becomes untouchable. For Nolan Teasley, the real job is deciding which players can be flipped for draft capital without messing with what’s working in November and January.
Minnesota’s defense has been stingy enough to keep the focus on fine-tuning, not panic moves. With the unit allowing an NFL-low 12.8 points per game, any deal the Vikings make has to fit the present, not just some future draft board.
And because Teasley has already moved J.J. McCarthy and Jonathan Greenard this year, there’s no reason to assume he’ll sit still if the roster points him toward another move.
The safest candidates are the ones whose roles have shrunk or whose production can be replaced without forcing Kevin O'Connell or Brian Flores to rethink everything. Three names stand out.
Jauan Jennings is the clearest one. Through four games, he has only two catches for nine yards, and his quiet showing against New Orleans only added to a start that has gone nowhere near how Minnesota planned it.
The Vikings have seen Tai Felton carve out a real role already, with 128 offensive snaps, and Myles Price gives them another option behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Add Odell Beckham Jr. to the practice squad, and the room looks crowded enough to make Jennings expendable.
Minnesota signed Jennings to a one-year, $8 million deal with incentives that could raise the total, but that investment isn’t coming back in full. Still, a receiver-needy club might value what he brings as a blocker, a physical presence, and a proven player from his San Francisco days. If the Vikings can squeeze out a useful Day 3 pick, that’s the kind of deal they should be ready to make.
Ivan Pace Jr. belongs on the list too, even if this is less about him falling out of favor and more about the numbers in front of him. Blake Cashman and Eric Wilson have soaked up 95.3 and 93.9% of the defensive snaps, while Pace has been stuck at 15.9%. He’s still a major special teams piece, playing 83.1% of those snaps, but that’s a steep drop for a linebacker who logged nearly 1,500 defensive snaps over his first three seasons.
Minnesota’s decision to spend the 51st overall pick on Jake Golday only adds to the congestion. The Vikings can afford to keep four inside linebackers around, but only up to the point where another team is willing to pay for one.
Pace is 25, has starting experience, and has already shown he can blitz in an aggressive scheme. That’s the sort of profile a linebacker-needy team could value more than Minnesota does right now.
The Vikings shouldn’t move him for scraps, but they should absolutely listen.
Carson Wentz would take the biggest offer of the three, and for good reason. Minnesota already had a reminder this season of why backup quarterbacks matter, with Kyler Murray’s Week 1 injury pushing Wentz into the lineup against Chicago. He’s played 106 offensive snaps this year, and his presence has real value because he already knows O'Connell’s offense and has more than 100 NFL starts behind him.
That experience also gives him a market. Quarterback injuries around the league can make a steady backup look a lot more valuable in a hurry.
Keeping Max Brosmer on the 53-man roster gives Minnesota another option behind Murray, but the Vikings would be getting too cute if they turned around and moved Wentz for a standard late-round pick. That kind of deal only makes sense if a desperate team is willing to pay more than Minnesota expects to get for a backup quarterback later on.
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