Jonathan Greenard, Minnesota Vikings
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(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The Minnesota Vikings expect Jonathan Greenard to beon the team for the 2026 NFL season. However, with the 2026 NFL Draft approaching at the end of April, the Vikings could be receiving offers to see if there’s any wiggle room to trade the veteran pass rusher.
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.
Although the Vikings want to keep this production, given their stance, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell put together a trade idea that would send Greenard to the Kansas City Chiefs as part of a multi-piece deal.
In Barnwell’s trade idea, the Chiefs would receive the No. 9 overall pick, the No. 97 pick, and Greenard, while the Vikings would get the No. 18 overall pick and edge rusher Felix Anudike-Uzomah.
“The Chiefs would love to come out of this draft with an impact edge rusher,”Barnwell wrote in his article published on April 9. “They might be just a tad too low to land that player at No. 9 if the board goes as expected.
“One other way to address that need would be to add a star in Greenard, who racked up 12 sacks and 22 knockdowns with the Vikings in 2024 before injuries wrecked his 2025 campaign. Greenard will turn 29 in May, so he should still have a couple of years of impactful pass rushing before the Chiefs would need to worry about moving on.”
Minnesota Could Bolster Secondary Through This Trade Idea
As for why Anudike-Uzomah is part of the deal, the 24-year-old hasn’t impressed, and Barnwell believes the player would be worth a second-round pick, given that he was a first-round pick three years ago. Moreover, moving into the Top 10 would allow the Vikings to bolster their secondary.
“This trade would value the difference between Greenard and Anudike-Uzomah — a former first-round pick who hasn’t impressed with the Chiefs — as being worth the 54th pick, according to the Johnson chart, in a typical draft. The Vikings would move up from No. 18 to No. 9 and put defensive coordinator Brian Flores in line to add one of the premier defensive backs in this year’s class.
“The idea of Downs in a Flores defense is tantalizing, but the Vikings could also go for LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane here. Trading Greenard would open cap space and create a spot in the starting lineup for Dallas Turner, who filled in for Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel when they were hurt last season.”
Vikings Insider Shares Blunt Take on Jonathan Greenard
Amid the speculation, 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.”