Entering the final year of his rookie deal, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison appears to be trade bait.
Sports Illustrated’s Grant Cohn reported on January 21 that the San Francisco 49ers are targeting a trade for Addison, whose behavioral issues have made his future unclear in Minnesota.
“According to a source, the 49ers intend to be quite aggressive this offseason in terms of trades. They want to trade up in the draft and they want to trade for a wide receiver,” Cohn said in a video on X. “The wide receiver they’re initially targeting in a trade is Jordan Addison of the Minnesota Vikings. Jordan Addison is entering year four in the NFL and the Vikings apparently don’t want to pick up his fifth-year option.
They [the Vikings] like Jalen Nailor… They’d like to keep him. And since they’re not going to pick up Jordan Addison’s fifth-year option, they would be open to trading [Addison],” Cohn added. “There have already been initial discussions between the two teams on a trade. I don’t know if the Niners have made an offer. I don’t know if they’ll ultimately get him, because other teams are probably going to want him.”
49ers, Jordan Addison Report Seems Premature
To break down Cohn’s report, many things feel true.
The 49ers likely are on the hunt for a No. 1 wide receiver with their issues with Brandon Aiyuk.
The Vikings also really like Nailor, who is a pending free agent, and amid Addison’s ongoing legal issues, Nailor has turned into his most logical replacement.
But what doesn’t pass the sniff test is the Vikings not wanting to exercise Addison’s fifth-year option. He is on an affordable rookie-scale contract, and his $17.5 million fifth-year option is still a steal, considering comparable No. 2 wide receivers like Jalen Waddle, Tee Higgins and Devonta Smith are earning north of $25 million a year.
The fifth-year option deadline this season is May 1 this year, meaning any trade suitor would have the option to opt in.
But there is no urgency for the Vikings to trade him before then. Minnesota can exercise its fifth-year option and then deal him under team control for two seasons. The only caveat is running the risk of Addison getting into trouble again.
His latest run-in with the law proved to be a non-starter after a Tampa Bay-area attorney dropped trespassing charges against him for an incident in January.
Addison is surely on thin ice in Minnesota and can’t seem to stay out of the public eye, but this latest incident shouldn’t be the last straw.
Bills Also Interested in Trading Vikings for Addison
San Francisco is a logical landing spot for Addison, considering the ties to Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
Another potential suitor for Addison, according to Cohn, is the Buffalo Bills.
“I’m hearing Buffalo is the team that also would like Jordan Addison. Remember, they traded with the Vikings a few years ago for Stefon Diggs. So there’s a history between those two teams,” Cohn said. “But keep an eye on the 49ers making a play for Jordan Addison. He’s 23 years old. He was a first-round pick. He’s two years younger than Ricky Pearsall. He’s really, really, really, really, really good.”
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