After starting the season with postseason aspirations, the Minnesota Vikings has gone from one stumble to another. On Thursday, they finally hit rock bottom.
Just five days after being thrashed by the Atlanta Falcons for their first win of the season, the Vikings (1-5) hit the demolition button on their 2020 campaign by sending the all-star defensive end in a trade Yannick Ngakoue to the Baltimore Ravens. Yes, the same Ngakoue they had acquired just before starting the schedule in a trade with the Jaguars.
To make matters worse, Minnesota also announced Thursday that the star defensive end Danielle Hunter, twice invited to the Pro Bowl, will remain out for the rest of a season that could never start, due to a herniated disc. And so, in one fell swoop, what used to be one of the best defenses in the NFL now it’s a tailoring job.
The Vikings acquired Ngakoue on April 30 in exchange for a 2021 second-round pick and a 2022 fifth-round conditional pick. The result was five sacks and two forced fumbles. After just five games with Minnesota, the former Jacksonville player will go to the Ravens, who sent the Vikings a third-round pick in 2021 and a conditional fifth-round pick to Minnesota. To make matters worse, Ngakoue’s departure leaves Minnesota a $ 6.8 million hit on salary cap. Wherever you see it, it was a Bad business.
HunterOn the other hand, he had been one of the league’s best quarterback hunters the past two seasons, racking up 29 sacks and anchoring a fierce defense this year. However, the neck injury prevented him from starting the year and now Minnesota will have decisions to make regarding a contract that next year brings a impact on salary cap of nearly $ 18 million.
Due to Hunter’s aspirations to become the highest paid defender in the NFL and the deterioration in aspirations in Minnesota, the Vikings will have to make the decision to renegotiate the five-year, $ 72 million contract he signed in 2019 or find a trade. and start building from scratch.
Minnesota, which last season featured the fifth-best defense in the league, a unit that carried them into the divisional round of the playoffs, now features the penultimate defense in the entire NFL, has allowed more than 40 points on two occasions and has been unable to help an attack that has its own problems with a running back injury Dalvin Cook and the inconsistencies of the quarterback Kirk Cousins.
With Chicago (5-1) and Green Bay (4-1) taking a wide lead in the division, Minnesota is in clear trouble. However, despite what his actions indicate, the manager Rick Spielman refuses – at least publicly – to end the season.
“Nobody thinks the season is over at this point”he said to Minneapolis Star Tribune. “You want to win as many games as possible and that will be our goal for the year.”
Considering your current situation, there might not be many.
