The Vikings made a slightly surprising move when the team traded defensive end Yannick Ngakoue.
Considering the context that Minnesota had just acquired Ngakoue in a trade this offseason, it was certainly strange.
But there is still some justification for it. Ngakoue was on just a one-year deal. If he hypothetically did not want to re-sign with the team, it makes sense for Minnesota to try and get something back.
Despite that, Bleacher Report was not a fan of the trade from the Vikings’ perspective. The outlet gave the Vikings a D grade for the trade. Here’s what it said about Ngakoue and Minnesota:
“Minnesota obviously did the math and realized it was unlikely to retain Ngakoue next season, making this a ‘cut your losses’ deal after a horrendous start to the 2020 season. That’s fair because this team doesn’t appear to be on the brink, but the Vikes still got less for Ngakoue than what they gave up to acquire him from the Jacksonville Jaguars (that same conditional fifth-round pick, but also a second-rounder).”
When looking at that way, it’s not great. Though there is some rationale behind it, the Ngakoue trade was definitely an error on the part of the Vikings front office.
There is a very simple way to look at this trade: If what the Vikings got back from Ngakoue was less than what it gave up (it was), then they should not have done the trade in the first place. Oh well.