Report: Vikings Tried to Trade Griffen for Zeitler

The Vikings completed a contract restructure for Everson Griffen last month, but apparently that wasn’t all the Vikings front office had in mind for Griffen.

Local Vikings beat writers Andrew Krammer and Ben Goessling reported recently that the Vikings were also near to completing a trade of Everson Griffen to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for guard Kevin Zeitler.

Apparently the deal fell through at the last minute when Cleveland decided to do the Odell Beckham Jr. trade with the Giants that also landed them Oliver Vernon.

That would have been a bold move for the Vikings, and would have netted them one of the best guards in the NFL in recent years in Kevin Zeitler, while also saving $1 million in salary cap space.

It’s not out of the question that the Vikings may still look to trade Griffen at some point down the road, as his contract restructure was only for this year, and his salary cap hit is set to go up to almost $14 million next year and even higher in subsequent years.

The Vikings are also reportedly looking to trade Trae Waynes, although that may be a little less urgent since Holton Hill’s suspension, but nevertheless could happen at some point this off-season - perhaps during the draft.

The Vikings currently don’t have enough salary cap space to sign all of their draft picks, so something will have to give sooner or later.

It’s also not out of the question that the Vikings could part ways with Riley Reiff, depending on what offensive linemen they land in the draft.

Stay tuned.