I’ve already discussed Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress‘ draft picks, his free agency and waiver wire acquisitions, and his handling of the Vikings quarterback position.Today, then, I look at the Vikings trades under the Childress regime.
2006 Minnesota Vikings Trades:
- March, 2006: Daunte Culpepper to Miami Dolphins for 2nd round pick (51st overall) in the 2006 draft.
- April, 2006: 19th pick of the third round (83rd overall) and 31st pick of the third round (95th overall) to the Pittsburgh Steelers for the 32nd pick of the second round (64th overall) which they used to draft QB Tarvaris Jackson. The Steelers drafted FS Anthony Smith (83rd) and WR Willie Reed (95th) with the acquired picks.
- April, 2006: Vikings send the 115th and 185th overall picks to the Philadelphia Eagles for the 127th overall pick and G Artis Hicks.
- May, 2006: WR Hank Baskett to Philadelphia Eagles for WR Billy McMullen.
- August, 2006: DT C.J. Mosely to New York Jets for QB Brooks Bollinger and undisclosed draft pick.
- September, 2006: T Adam Goldberg to the St. Louis Rams for undisclosed draft pick.
- April, 2007: Vikings trade 9th pick of the second round (41st overall) to the Atlanta Falcons for the Falcons second round (44th overall) and a fourth-round pick (121st overall). The Vikings drafted WR Sidney Rice and traded the 121st pick to the Denver Broncos. The Falcons used the 41st pick to draft CB Chris Houston.
- April, 2007: Vikings trade seventh pick of the fourth round (106th overall) and the eighth pick of the sixth round (182nd overall) to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to draft DE Brian Robison. The Bucs draft S Tanard Jackson with the fourth round pick and LB Adam Hayward with the sixth round pick.
- April, 2007: Vikings trade the fourth round (121st overall) pick acquired from the Atlanta Falcons to the Denver Broncos for the Broncos sixth (176th overall) and seventh round (233rd overall) picks of the 2007 draft and the Broncos third round selection of the 2008 draft. With the sixth round pick, the Vikings draft LB Rufus Alexander and with the seventh round pick, they draft WR Chandler Williams. The Broncos use the 121st overall pick to draft DT Marcus Thomas.
Let’s knock them down one at a time.
The Daunte Culpepper Trade
This turned out well for the Vikings. Culpepper didn’t want to play for the Vikings anymore and as much as I wanted to sit him, let him sulk on the bench until he fully rehabbed and then trade him for more value, trading him immediately was the right move. Culpepper was a disaster in Miami and only this year does he look like he resemble the quarterback he was when he played here.
With the 51st overall pick they got from Miami, the Vikings drafted T/C Ryan Cook. Most people thought it was a hell of a reach to draft Cook at that spot; that the fourth round was a more reasonable place to pick him. Cook is starting at right tackle, but he has been extremely raw.
He is improving, though, so so far, so good.
Trade Up For Tarvaris Jackson
The Vikings traded two third round picks to the Pittsburgh Steelers to grab Jackson in the second round. The move surprised a lot of people because Jackson wasn’t anyone’s radar screen and was considered a sixth or seventh round pick.
With the two third rounders, the Steelers chose FS Anthony Smith and WR Willie Reid. Smith has played in 26 games and started nine of them for the Steelers. During the past two years, Smith has made 67 tackles, defended seven passes and intercepted three balls.
Reid has played in three games for the Steelers during the past two years and has a whopping three catches during that period.
Jackson has hardly lived up to his billing and worse, he doesn’t seem to be improving. Meanwhile, the Vikings’ safeties are older and have lost a step. We could use some young depth at the position. With a roster that boasts Hines Ward, Cedrick Wilson, and Santonio Holmes, Reid is not likely to see much action any time soon, so who knows how good he is. At least with the Vikings, we’d find out.
At this point it sure looks like trading up for Jackson was a bad move.
Vikings Trade Picks To Eagles For Artis Hicks
Artis Hicks is no longer starting and he was pretty bad when he was.
The Vikes traded the 115th and 185th overall selections to the Eagles for Hicks and the 127th overall pick. The Eagles subsequently traded both picks to the Green Bay Packers.
With the 115th pick, Green Bay took cornerback Will Blackmon. Blackmon has one tackle in the eight games he’s played for the Packers during the past two years. With the 185th pick, the Packers selected DB Tyrone Culver, who had one pass defended in 2006. He is no longer on the roster.
The Vikes took DE Ray Edwards with the 127th pick. Edwards is great as a starter but between the 115th and 127th picks, the Vikes missed the opportunity to take RB Leon Washington (averaging 4.3 yards a carry this season), WR Brandon Marshall (55 receptions in 2006, 20 thus far this year), and the diminutive defensive end Elvis Dumervil, who’s blowing it up with the Broncos–8 sacks last year, 8.5 thus far this year).
This was a bad trade.
Hank Baskett For Billy McMullen
A team that has been in dire need of receivers since Childress took over ships off a 6’4", 220 lbs receiver with 4.3 speed for, for…wait for it…Billy McMullen!
McMullen was a fine possession receiver but we didn’t need a possession receiver. We needed an explosive receiver and Baskett was the closest we’ve come to that during the Childress era.
Though his stats are not stellar, Baskett is still playing still playing with the Eagles as their third receiver. McMullen, meanwhile, hasn’t played since we cut him.
Bad, bad trade.
Mosely For Bollinger
The Vikings, belatedly, realized they needed another quarterback so they shipped the talented DT C.J. Mosley to the Jets for Brooks Bollinger. Bollinger has been just okay and Mosley hasn’t cracked the Jets starting lineup. We needed a QB and Mosley wouldn’t have seen much playing time here anyway, so not a bad trade.
Goldberg For Undisclosed
Adam Goldberg has started four games during the past two years for the Saint Louis Rams, despite losses on the offensive line this season. But we’ve needed as much help at guard as possible, so I’m just sayin’.
We don’t know what we got for Goldberg yet, so it’s too early to tell.
Vikes Trade Down And Pick Sidney Rice
Sidney Rice looks like he’s going to be a fine receiver, maybe even a great one. The Vikes traded the 41st pick for Atlanta’s 44th overall pick and the 121st overall pick.
The Falcons chose CB Chris Houston, who has started six games for them this year.
The Vikings traded the 121st pick to the Denver Broncos for the 176th and 223rd overall picks.
Straight up, this was a good trade. The Vikings didn’t need more corners but they did need a young receiver and they turned the 121st pick into two more selections.
Vikings Trade Up For Brian Robison
The Vikings gave up the 106th and 182nd overall picks to move up to the 102nd slot to take Robison. Robison is super athletic and has provided the Vikes some much-needed speed rushing from the edge. The Buccaneers took safety Tanard Jackson and linebacker Adam Hayward with their picks. Jackson has started every game this season while Hayward hasn’t done much at all.
As I said above, the Vikings certainly need some youth at safety but they also need some speed from their defensive ends.
This trade is a wash.
Fourth Round Pick For A Sixth & A Seventh
The Vikes trade the 121st overall pick to the Broncos for the 176th and 233nd overall picks which they use to select linebacker Rufus Alexander and wide receiver Chandler Williams, respectively.
Alexander was highly regarded but was placed on injured reserve during the pre-season, so we haven’t seen what he can do. Williams was last seen in a Miami Dolphins uniform, but he has no statistics this season.
The Broncos chose DT Marcus Thomas, who has started just one game, has only 11 tackles, but does have an interception.
It’s too early to tell whether or not this was a good trade. We’ll have to see whether Alexander pan out.
- Good Trades: Culpepper, Trade down for Sidney Rice: Two Good Trades.
- Bad Trades: Trade up for Tarvaris Jackson, Picks for Hicks, Baskett for McMullen, Mosley for Bollinger (though I said it wasn’t a bad trade, I’m docking Childress some points for completely mismanaging the quarterback situation from the start, and the Bollinger trade is part of it): Four Bad Trades.
- Washes Or Too Early To Tell: Goldberg for Undisclosed, trade up for Robison, fourth round pick for a sixth and a seventh: Three neutral trades.