The Vikings may be letting Ivan Pace Jr. drift into the background at exactly the wrong time.
Through seven games, the 25-year-old linebacker has barely been part of Brian Flores’s defense. Pace has logged just 59 defensive snaps all season, which works out to 8.4 per game. He’s still a regular on special teams, where he has played 152 snaps for an 83.5% rate, but that hasn’t changed the bigger picture: his defensive role has shrunk fast.
That’s a sharp fall for a player who was once much more involved. Pace started 27 times in 52 appearances for Minnesota and burst onto the scene as an undrafted free agent in 2023, when he piled up 102 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Last season, even with a reduced role, he still managed 62 tackles, two tackles for a loss, and one sack.
Now, though, the path back onto the field looks crowded. Blake Cashman and Eric Wilson are locked in as the Vikings’ starting interior linebackers, while rookie Jake Golday is developing as a future piece at the position. That leaves Pace fighting for scraps on defense.
And that’s where the trade deadline angle comes in. If Minnesota is serious about putting Pace on the block, the team would be smart to get him more defensive work over the next few games, starting with the Bills in Week 9. Sitting him won’t do anything to help his market.
Pace is on a one-year, $3.52 million deal, and a reunion with the Vikings looks unlikely with Cashman, Wilson and Golday on the roster. Another team could see that expiring contract as a chance to take a low-risk shot on a linebacker with some real production on his résumé.
There are teams in need of help in the middle of their defense, and Pace’s age, track record and upside still make him an interesting option. But in the NFL, recent usage matters most, and lately the Vikings haven’t given him much of a chance to show what he can do.
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General manager Nolan Teasley has not added anyone yet, but the timing is hard to miss with Minnesota preparing for a matchup against the Buffalo Bills and still evaluating the depth chart. Even if no deal follows right away, the roster maneuvering suggests the Vikings are keeping the door open for a deadline move if the right opportunity presents itself. [Read more 🡒]
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Raiders Suddenly Have A Kirk Cousins Decision Fans Cant Ignore
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For Minnesota fans, the timing is hard to miss. A Vikings loss has reopened the quarterback chatter around the league, with Kyler Murray's future drawing speculation and Cousins naturally surfacing as a name to watch, but the Raiders do not appear eager to make that kind of move. The bigger question now is whether Las Vegas would even consider disrupting a locker room that is leaning on Cousins in more ways than one. [Read more 🡒]