T.J. Hockenson immediately knew he was in the right place. On November 1, 2022, the Minnesota Vikings traded a 2023 second-round pick and a 2024 third-rounder for Hockenson and two picks. Five days later, he had nine receptions for 90 yards in a 20-17 road win over the Washington Commanders. “This is pretty sweet,” he said after the game. “I’m just really happy to be part of this organization and really happy to be a part of this team, and there’s nothing else, nowhere else I’d rather be.”
Hockenson said he loves football and would play for very little money. However, his four-year, $68.5 million deal set the market for tight ends. The $17.125 million he makes annually and the $42.5 million guaranteed are the highest for a tight end in NFL history. The four-time Pro Bowler had a career-high 86 receptions for 914 yards, including a 109-yard performance against the New York Giants in the regular season.
“I’ve always been a fan,” said Kevin O’Connell. “I was a fan of his coming out, and then really, where the window really opened for me was getting around Matthew [Stafford] in LA and studying a lot of his tape. Seeing T.J. show up and certain types of things that he did that allowed Matthew to transition pretty easily into our offense there.”
Trading for Hockenson, 26, was the biggest deal that the Wall Street-trained Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has swung for the Vikings. However, some lower-wattage moves didn’t work out. In August last year, Minnesota traded a sixth-round pick to the Houston Texans for Ross Blacklock and a seventh-rounder. Houston’s second-round pick in 2020 only played in 11 games and 19% of the available snaps.
The Vikings also traded a 2023 seventh-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth for Jalen Reagor in August. The receiver who the Philadelphia Eagles took one pick ahead of Justin Jefferson in 2020 fell behind Jefferson, Adam Thielen, and K.J. Osborn on the depth chart. However, special teams coordinator Matt Daniels famously raved about Reagor, saying, “He’s a very stout, cocky-built guy,” he said. “Narrow. Thick. Strong legs. Big glutes. Really nice calves. I was salivating over this dude.”
However, Reagor had a career-low 13 targets, eight receptions, and 104 yards in Minnesota. Therefore, the conditional fourth-round pick becomes a fifth-rounder. Reagor had three receptions for 77 yards from Week 10 to 12. But he misidentified zone coverage and didn’t finish a route against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 14, contributing to Minnesota’s first-half meltdown.
Minnesota cut Blacklock and Reagor after this year’s camp. They didn’t lose high-end draft capital in either trade, but every pick matters. Hockenson set the market for tight ends, and Jefferson’s contract will do the same for receivers. Cousins has $28 million in dead cap next year, and the Vikings will have to pay Christian Darrisaw. Draft capital matters for a team in Minnesota’s cap situation, so it matters that neither deal worked out.
Still, Adofo-Mensah says he won’t shy away from gambling on trades in the future. “Ultimately, we’re gonna keep taking risks in this organization.”
Every pick you make is a decision that has outcomes that potentially could happen. It’s a portfolio in a sense, and you have to measure the portfolio in the end. When we go into these decisions, we know that we don’t think we have every answer figured out. But we’re aligned on what we think the player can do, and we’re gonna see how that’s gonna work out over the long haul.
The Hockenson deal worked out; Reagor and Blacklock did not. Ultimately, the former matters more than the latter. The Vikings will lean heavily on tight ends in their 21 base personnel, and they need Hockenson’s receiving ability for the offense to work. It would have been a bonus if Reagor panned out, especially at receiver. But that matters less after O’Connell moved away from 11-personnel. And Brian Flores would probably like to have depth on the D-line. Still, they wouldn’t be the same team without Hockenson. There’s no sense in sweating minor deals when the big one worked out.
