Like most of you, I’ve been following Minnesota Vikings football long enough to know that juuuust when you think the tide has turned for the better, all hope is quickly squandered following a crushing defeat. Optimism is in the air after Monday night’s 22-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. And rightfully so. A win like that should always serve as a launching pad for one’s season.
Instead of kickstarting the fire sale as many were predicting at this time last week, are the Vikings suddenly buyers in advance of Tuesday’s trade deadline? If they beat the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and the front office pull off a second-straight swap at the deadline. But if they’re unable to leave Lambeau Field with a victory in hand, will they still be aggressive?
Let’s take the glass-half-full approach today and say the Vikings take care of business against the lowly Packers on Sunday. If the Vikings are going to swing for the fences — like they did last season by acquiring another Pro Bowler on a one-year contract — there’s a name that Skoldiers should keep tabs on.
Carolina Panthers edge rusher Brian Burns has been named a Pro Bowler in each of the past two seasons. At 25 years old, Burns is entering his prime. A former first-round pick out of Florida State, Burns has 42 sacks and a career 12% pressure rate in 70 games. Burns was mentioned in trade rumors last season, as he and the Panthers have yet to come to an agreement on a contract extension. But the Panthers refused to part ways with their talented pass rusher at the time.
Carolina is currently 0-6, though, and Burns still doesn’t have a contract extension. Therefore, could Burns be had for the right price?
Pass rushers who have amassed the kind of sack totals Burns has tallied don’t come cheap. However, the Vikings are no strangers to paying a king’s ransom for a pass rusher of Burns’ caliber. Just four days before the 2008 draft, Minnesota traded its first-round pick (17th overall) and two third-round picks to the Kansas City Chiefs for defensive end Jared Allen. Like Burns, Allen was 25 at the time and coming off a Pro Bowl campaign. Immediately after trading for Allen, the Vikings made him the richest defensive player in the NFL with a six-year, $74 million extension. If the Panthers trade Burns before the deadline, a massive contract extension would likely coincide. The Draft Network believes that Burns’ extension could be in the four-year, $122 million range.
With a win on Sunday, would the Vikings be willing to part with their first-round pick (and probably more) in the upcoming draft to acquire Burns? It’s important to remember that Carolina currently doesn’t have a first-round pick, because they traded their 2024 first-rounder to the Chicago Bears to move up for quarterback Bryce Young in last year’s draft. And with the Vikings flirting with .500 at the moment, a pick potentially in the top half of this year’s first round has to be intriguing for Carolina right about now.
If the Vikings trade their first-round pick for Burns, what will they do at quarterback after this season? Cousins is still a lame duck quarterback who’s set to hit the open market in March. Would the Vikings and Cousins be willing to commit to each other for at least one more season? If not, would Minnesota be forced to hit the veteran retread market with someone like Baker Mayfield, Jacoby Brissett, Joshua Dobbs, or Sam Darnold for a year or two before taking their big swing on a rookie quarterback in the 2025 or 2026 draft?
Trading for Burns would leave the Vikings extremely exposed at the game’s most important position considering Cousins’ uncertainty with the team past this season. But if the powers that be inside TCO Performance Center decide to crank up the Competitive dial on their beloved Competitive Rebuild stereo, few players could help impact this team more than Burns. Not to mention that Burns would immediately become the long-term anchor for Minnesota’s defensive front. Let’s not forget, Danielle Hunter and Marcus Davenport are set to be free agents after this season.
But while Hunter is still wearing No. 99 in purple, pairing him with Burns for the stretch run would give Brian Flores a truly dynamic tandem of edge rushers. While theoretically allowing him to take his foot off the blitz gas pedal because he’ll be able to create considerably more havoc with four when those two are coming off the edge. And if/when Davenport returns from injury, kicking him inside on obvious passing situations would give Flores one hell of a NASCAR front on third-and-longs.
This spicy trade speculation is all for naught if the Vikings fall to 3-5 after visiting Lambeau Field on Sunday. But with a win against those beer-crazed Cheese Heads, the ensuing 48 hours before Tuesday’s 3 p.m. CDT trade deadline could get very interesting for the decision makers upstairs at TCO Performance Center.
