The Vikings effectively punted on the 2020 season by sending defensive end Yannick Ngakoue to the Ravens for a 2021 third-round pick and a 2022 conditional fifth-round pick.
Through six games with the Vikings, Ngakoue had five sacks.
This was just six games into the 2020 season and about two months after the Vikings acquired Ngakoue for a 2021 second-round pick and a 2022 fifth-round pick.
On paper, it might look like the difference between a second-round and third-round pick. And technically, that’s what it is. But the Vikings will likely have an early second-round pick while the Ravens will likely have a late third-round pick. That’s about a 50-pick loss because Vikings GM Rick Spielman thought his team could contend even though every sign this offseason told us that wasn’t going to happen.
It’s worth wondering if there’s more to come as far as trades go. Could we see the Vikings move on from players like Kyle Rudolph, Harrison Smith, Riley Reiff or even Adam Thielen?
Acquiring a load of future assets might be the only thing that might save Spielman’s job at this point.