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In case you may have missed it. . .and, given the fact that people are actually commenting again, I don’t think many of you have. . .the Minnesota Vikings pulled off a pretty huge trade on Sunday morning, agreeing to send a 2021 second-round pick and a conditional fifth-round pick in 2022 to the Jacksonville Jaguars for stud pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue.
This means that I have to learn how to spell Ngakoue on a regular basis without looking it up every time. More importantly than that, however, it means that the Vikings once again have a pair of outstanding pass rushers coming off of the edges of their defensive line, with Ngakoue stepping into the void left by Everson Griffen’s departure.
The internet was quick to react to the deal, so let’s take a look around at what some folks had to say about it.
Patrik Walker, CBS Sports:
A fix today that puts Ngakoue in tandem with a player like Danielle Hunter, with roughly a $4 million discount, and protection later in the event things don’t contractually go as planned in 2021?
That’s an A+ deal for Minnesota.
Steven Ruiz, USA Today:
It’s a risky deal but there really isn’t a wide range of outcomes here for Minnesota. At best, the Vikings gave up second- and fifth-round picks for the right to overpay Ngakoue next offseason. At worst, he’s an expensive one-year rental. But barring a significant injury to Ngakoue, he’ll be productive in 2020 so there’s little chance this turns into a deal that haunts Minnesota; at the same time, it’s not one that’s going to add a ton of value beyond this season.
Brian Baldinger and Brian Billick, NFL Network:
“They got better today. They got better with this trade.” @BaldyNFL and @CoachBillick break down the @Vikings trade for @YannickNgakoue.
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) August 30, 2020
: Inside Training Camp LIVE pic.twitter.com/7VwbDoSjHb
Walter Cherepinsky, Walter Football:
Meanwhile, this is a huge win for the Vikings. They lost Everson Griffen to free agency and Michael Pierce to an opt-out, so it seemed as though their usually dominant defensive line would be worse in 2020. That’s no longer the case, as Ngakoue will give Minnesota one of the top edge-rushing tandems in the NFL. This will be a huge edge in the division, as the Vikings will apply way more pressure on talented quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, and, umm, whatever the Bears have.
We’ll see if we can’t find some more reactions and add them to the post here. In the meantime, give us your first impressions of the big trade in the poll below.
Poll
What is your initial grade for the Vikings sending a 2021 second-round pick and conditional 2022 fifth-round pick to Jacksonville for DE Yannick Ngakoue?
This poll is closed
-
57%
A
(1919 votes) -
21%
A-
(717 votes) -
13%
B+
(437 votes) -
4%
B
(134 votes) -
1%
B-
(40 votes) -
0%
C+
(15 votes) -
0%
C
(20 votes) -
0%
C-
(7 votes) -
0%
D+
(3 votes) -
0%
D
(5 votes) -
0%
D-
(3 votes) -
0%
F
(16 votes)