The Minnesota Vikings are downplaying their interest in a blockbuster move ahead of the November 10 trade deadline, but team insiders are reporting that the NFL’s last undefeated team is about to get more aggressive regarding the addition of talent to its roster.
Alec Lewis of The Athletic reported as much on Monday, October 26, one day after the Vikings bested the Indianapolis Colts at U.S. Bank Stadium to move to 6-0 on the season, but saw running back Aaron Jones Sr. re-aggravate an existing knee injury in the fourth quarter and leave the game as a result.
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“The #Vikings are expected to ‘further ramp up’ conversations with teams on available players via trade this week, @alec_lewis mentioned via @AlecLewisShow,” the VikingzFanPage posted to X.
Vikings RB Aaron Jones Sr. Suffered Knee Injury Against Colts, Could Miss Time
Jones was functioning as the team’s primary running back over four games between Weeks 2-5 while Jordan Mason was on the injured reserve list (IR) with a thumb fracture. Minnesota leaned heavily on the soon-to-be 32-year-old running back, loading him up with nearly 100 touches over that stretch.
A Colts defensive player put a hit on Jones in the fourth quarter of last weekend’s game, which knocked him out for the remainder of the contest. The joint in question was the same left knee that Jones hurt (MCL sprain) earlier this season.
Mason is back healthy, which helps matters, though he is averaging just 15 carries per game and netting roughly 4.2 yards per attempt and has one total TD in the two contests he has played. He has not received a single target in the pass game this year.
Those numbers are fine, but they are not indicative of a three-down back who can carry the full workload game in and game out. Head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters on Monday that he is not concerned about depth at the position, regardless of the outcome of Jones’s MRI, but also left the door open for the team to add to the RB room.
“I feel good about the room, and we’ll meet as a staff and get together with [GM] Nolan [Teasley] here and talk through that, what it looks like,” O’Connell said. “But with where Aaron’s at and where we feel coming out of the game, I don’t necessarily see it as a depth issue at all. But obviously, things could change as we go day-to-day here.”
Vikings Could Make Play for Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor
Should the Vikings get more aggressive in the trade market, as Lewis reported, running back is a logical place for the team to look.
Jonathan Taylor of the Colts and running back Saquon Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles could each make sense as a home run swing for the Vikings at the deadline to improve an offense that hasn’t done much through the air with Kyler Murray under center.
Barkley, however, could be a non-starter as he suffered a back injury against the Dallas Cowboys on “Monday Night Football” in Week 7, left the game and did not return.
The offense is the most lacking unit of the three in Minnesota, so adding a RB is perhaps the most likely outcome. That said, the Vikings could also look to make a move for a defensive tackle like DeForest Buckner of Indianapolis in the coming weeks.
Vikings Subject of Exciting Trade News Amid Aaron Jones Injury