Jonathan Greenard, Minnesota Vikings
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(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Minnesota Vikings pass rusher Jonathan Greenard has had his name in the speculation mill most of this offseason. After this upcoming 2026 NFL season, Greenard will have one year left on his current contract. As a result, it’s no surprise there’s talk about his future.
With the Vikings last season,Greenard posted a 74.2 overall defensive grade from PFF, placing 31st out of 115 qualified edge defenders in 2025. His pass-rush grade came in at 77.6, good for 18th, while his 77.8 run-defense grade ranked 12th at the position.
He finished the year with 47 total pressures, including four sacks, 35 hurries, and eight hits. Moreover, he recorded 24 solo tackles and forced one fumble. Amid the rumors, Alec Lewis of The Athletic shared his take on whether the Vikings should trade Greenard with the NFL Draft approaching.
“I don’t think they should trade Jonathan Greenard unless they can get a first-round pick, which I don’t expect them to land,”Lewis said on the March 31 edition of “Purple Insider.”
“The sack production in 2025 is what it is, but when you dig into the advanced metrics and the film, it tells a better story. His pass rush win rate, quick pressure rate and run stop rate all improved compared to 2024.”
Jonathan Greenard Would Be Ideal Insurance Policy
Moreover, Lewis believes that keeping Greenard will give the Vikings an insurance policy in case Dallas Turner regresses after recording eight sacks last season.
“I also think, yes, did Dallas Turner take a big step over the back half of the 2025 season?” Lewis added. “Absolutely, he did. I can’t wait to see how he builds on that in 2026. But to expect him to reach the level of production Jonathan Greenard has is lofty.
“I do think it’s important on a defense where, besides Andrew Van Ginkel, the only other reliable defensive lineman right now is Jalen Redmond. So I just think he’s too important to this defense, and this defense is too important to being competitive to move him for anything other than something real premium.”
Moreover, there’s the possibility that both Turner and Greenard have impressive 2026 seasons to make the Vikings even more fearsome than it was toward the end of the last campaign.
Vikings Expect Jonathan Greenard to Be on the Team in 2026
Despite speculation of a potential trade, head coach Kevin O’Connell said the team intends to keep Greenard on its roster for the upcoming season.
“Kevin O’Connell on if he expects Jonathan Greenard on the roster this season: “Yeah, I expect him to be part of our team,”Seifert posted on March 30 on X. “I know there’s always conversations, there’s conversations this week, there’s conversations throughout the offseason.”
Nonetheless, O’Connell mentioned that the Vikings will do whatever it takes to improve the team for the 2026 season.
“And we’ll continue to kind of attack things at the different phases. We’re getting ready to really jump heavily into draft meetings when we get back, but at the same time, we’re always going to try to do what’s best for our team.” O’Connellcontinued, via Seifert. “…And also what we think is best for each one of our individual players. And that’s an ongoing thing throughout every offseason.”