The Vikings Have No Choice But To Be Buyers At The Trade Deadline

If past seasons are any indication, the Minnesota Vikings will be active at the trade deadline. Assuming they win at least one or two of their three games before the November 4 deadline, it makes perfect sense that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah would look to bolster the roster. Still, regardless of Minnesota's record in three weeks, he might not have any choice but to dip back into the trade market.

You don’t need to ask Kwesi twice to try a trade. Minnesota's fourth-year general manager has made close to 40 of them in just three years, but he could be left with no other option than to be a buyer at the deadline. With an aging roster and a division that might not be decided until Week 18, the Vikings really have to push all their chips in for 2025.

The problem with the Vikings’ roster is that it’s very good. Well, very good and very old. They’re the seventh-oldest team in the league this year, and nine of their 22 usual starters are over the age of 30.

Leaning heavily on older players isn’t the worst thing. However, it gets tough when you don’t draft well, and the Vikings haven’t. Minnesota also lacks obvious successors at aging positions. Still, here's the good news: The current roster has 23 players under the age of 26. Now the bad news: Only three of them start, plus a kicker and punter.

For reference, the youngest team in the league, the Green Bay Packers, starts 12 players under the age of 26, and it’s not like they’re desperately in need of anybody with a pulse.

Simply having an older team isn’t the issue, though. The issue is that the Vikings have not done well enough in drafting and building a pipeline of young talent. For example, the Detroit Lions are the fourth-oldest team in the NFL. Still, they’ve also recently drafted players like Aidan Hutchinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph, and Sam LaPorta, all under 25, with at least one All-Pro or Pro Bowl appearance already. The Vikings don’t have a single player under 25 who has won either award.

Jordan Addison is promising, but he seems intent on jeopardizing any chances he has at a second contract with the Vikings due to his off-field concerns. And while it’s been impossible to judge J.J. McCarthy after such a small sample size through two years, it isn't difficult to see a world where he doesn’t pan out. The bottom line is that Minnesota's future seems tied to its inexplicable ability to continue to find impactful veterans via free agency and trade.

The other driving force in the team, being active buyers at the deadline, is the state of the division. At this point, there’s no one running away with the NFC North yet. Even if they are 4-4 at the deadline, Minnesota could realistically still have a fighting chance.

Green Bay lost to the 1-5 Cleveland Browns and tied the 2-3-1 Dallas Cowboys, who almost seem like a worse team. Meanwhile, the 4-2 Lions have already matched their loss total from last season. Not to mention, three teams from the division made the playoffs last year. This season is shaping up to potentially finish with similar results, with all four squads boasting a winning record at the moment.

So even if the Vikings are third or even -- gasp! -- fourth in the division by the deadline, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to load up for a second-half run at the title. The roster is built to win now. As the team gets healthier, there’s no reason to think this isn’t a top-five roster on paper. Adofo-Mensah would surely like his draft picks back from the unproductive Adam Thielen deal, but the Vikings still have the draft capital to wheel and deal in the coming weeks.

It might feel like a sunk-cost fallacy to throw more assets at going all in this season, even if the Vikings drop the next game or two. Still, abandoning 2025 for the future of the team just isn’t something Minnesota does. The Vikings have fielded some bad teams over the years, but it has never been intentional since the Wilfs bought the team.

While some teams in the league have no issues tearing it all down and starting fresh, the Wilfs want to win every year. So, beyond roster age, divisional record, or any other factor, the team is typically built to compete every season. They built this year's roster to win now.

It doesn’t take a genius to predict that a man who has made a deadline trade every year he’s been a GM might make another one this year, but Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is left with no choice but to do it again in 2025. The aging roster and wide-open division have Minnesota primed for a run at the playoffs. Adding another offensive lineman, or two, or five, could go a long way on that quest.