Vikings Should Absolutely Target MN Gophers Legend at Trade Deadline
· Yahoo Sports
The Minnesota Vikings are 5-0 coming out of their bye week, and The Athletic’s Alec Lewis already told us he expects the front office to be “really, really active” before the Nov. 10 trade deadline.
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On Monday morning, Lewis went a step further and laid out five positions the Vikings could look to upgrade. Safety was the least likely of the five, by his own admission. However, that’s only if you are thinking short-term.
Of the five positions here, safety might be the most far-fetched given its complexity in Flores’ system. Mastering the communication on the back end requires hundreds of training camp reps. Without them, it would be tough to expect major production…
Alec Lewis – The Athletic
Because long term, with 37-year-old Harrison Smith in his final season and no succession plan in place behind him, this team has no safety of the future to hand the secondary to. That makes both of the safety names listed intriguing. However, there’s only one that will catch the eye of Gopher fans too.
Could Vikings get another shot at Antoine Winfield Jr.?
In the 2020 NFL Draft, the MN Vikings passed on Antoine Winfield Jr. multiple times before he was eventually selected in the second round (45th overall) by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Despite then-Vikings general manager Rick Spielman watching the Minnesota Gophers legend ball out in person for years during his college career in Dinkytown, he and former head coach Mike Zimmer selected CB Jeff Gladney with the No. 31 overall pick, instead of “reaching” for Winfield Jr.
Related: Winfield Jr Says Vikings Didn’t Have Much Interest in Drafting Him
Gladney struggled as a rookie, recording just 3 passes defended in 15 starts, then tragically passed away in May 2022. Winfield, 28, has accumulated 561 tackles, 18 sacks, 9 interceptions and 12 forced fumbles in 89 NFL starts (all with TB). He’s also made two Pro Bowls and one first-team All-Pro nod (2023). He also helped Tampa win a Super Bowl his rookie year.
Antoine Winfield Jr. balled out in the Super Bowl as a rookie! @AntoineWJr11 | #SBLV https://t.co/5WCKVLWsFS
— NFL (@NFL) February 13, 2021
And now, two general managers later, Nolan Teasley could be staring at the perfect opportunity to right a wrong of his predecessor’s predecessor, before the Nov. 10 NFL trade deadline.
Alec Lewis floats MN Gopher legend as MN Vikings trade target
As I mentioned above, Alec’s article Monday at The Athletic listed safety as the Minnesota Vikings’ fifth and final position to watch for a possible trade, going as far as to call it “the most far-fetched” of the five.
Unless, of course, Teasley can get his hands on a real gamechanger, not just for the rest of 2026, but into the future as well. Specifically, Lewis names Budda Baker and Antoine Winfield Jr. as the two safety targets where “taking a swing will be worth a conversation.”
Taking a swing will be worth a conversation if players such as Antoine Winfield Jr. or Budda Baker are available. The Vikings would also be smart to think about a contingency plan for Smith in the form of an elite player with blitzing savvy and presnap deciphering chops.
Alec Lewis – The Athletic
Why Antoine Winfield Jr. trade makes sense for Vikings right now
Winfield signed a four-year, $84.1 million extension with Tampa Bay on May 13, 2024, which included $45 million fully guaranteed, all of which has already been paid out. Both 2026 and 2027 ($19.6M) are non-guaranteed.
He’s owed $19.5 million this season, and roughly half of that would still be left by the Nov. 10 deadline, meaning the Minnesota Vikings could trade for Winfield, with the plan to extend and lock him in as safety of the future this offseason.
The Vikings already have Josh Metellus under contract through 2028, after his three-year, $36 million extension in 2025. Adding the 28-year-old Winfield next to him would fix the Vikings’ future at safety before they even get to the offseason, leaving one less task on Teasley’s lengthy to-do list next spring/summer.
What would the Minnesota Vikings have to give up to get Winfield Jr.? Well, his market may be more suppressed now than any other time during his career, meaning it’s the perfect time to strike.
Down year in Tampa Bay?
Through four games, the former Gopher has just 24 tackles with zero forced fumbles, zero interceptions, zero passes defended and zero sacks. Five of those tackles came in the Vikings’ 23-16 win in Tampa back in Week 3.
He’s also been banged up lately. Winfield fractured a rib in the Bucs’ 17-14 loss to the Packers on Oct. 4 and has missed games against Dallas and Pittsburgh since. On Friday, Bucs reporter Greg Auman saw him working on the side with a trainer.
Winfield was working on the side with a trainer today. First I’ve seen him since his injury. Hard to know whether next week would be in play for him or not.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) October 16, 2026
Related: Insiders Clash on Vikings’ Trade Plans for Disgruntled Wide Receiver
With the Bucs sitting at 1-5, Tampa Bay media has taken notice and multiple outlets are calling for the Bucs to trade Winfield Jr., while he still holds some value.
Scott Reynolds (Pewter Report) named Winfield one of the Bucs’ “three logical candidates” to trade, writing that he “hasn’t come close to living up to his $21 million per year salary.” Others have suggested much of the same, though no insiders have reported any actual trade steam out of Florida just yet.
Antoine Winfield Jr. is a MN legend, but so is his dad…
Before he was a Buccaneer, Antoine Winfield Jr. was one of the best players to ever wear maroon and gold and play home football games in Dinkytown.
In 2019, his final collegiate season, the Minnesota star was named a unanimous All-American, just the seventh in school history and the first since Greg Eslinger in 2005.
Antoine Winfield Jr. from @GopherFootball was a unanimous All-American and is now up for Golden Goldys Men’s Athlete of the Year! Take a look at some of his highlights here! #Gophers. https://t.co/tP6Qg06wbS
— The Gopher Way (@thegopherway) April 18, 2020
Related: What We Learned from Another Ugly MN Vikings Victory in Week 3
That same season, he was crowned Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year and named a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Award. His seven interceptions tied the Gophers’ all-time single-season record.
It’s also worth noting that the Minnesota Vikings acquired Winfield Jr.’s father around this same time of his career. In the 2004 offseason, the 26-year-old Antoine Winfield Sr. signed with the Vikings in free agency as a budding defensive back in the league.
All Winfield Sr. did after signing in Minnesota was stay here 9 seasons, play in three Pro Bowls and become one of the best corners in franchise history.