The Minnesota Vikings concluded their final practice on Wednesday before flying out to Nashville to face the Tennessee Titans in their last preseason game on Friday. The starters got a significant amount of reps in what was described as an “intense,” fully padded practice where the starting defense dominated. Aside from some minor nagging injuries to Jeff Okudah, Jordan Addison, and Tai Felton, it was business as usual at TCO Performance Center.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary on the practice field, but inside the walls of TCO Performance Center, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has been “burning up” the phone lines for the past week. On Wednesday afternoon, a mystery team inquired about the availability of a starter on the Vikings defense, but was told that the player had already been traded.
By Wednesday evening, Adam Schefter dropped the truth nuke, sending shockwaves across the fan base.
ESPN sources: Vikings are trading DT Harrison Phillips and a 2027 7th-round pick to the New York Jets in exchange for a 2026 6th-round pick and a 2027 6th-round pick, pending Phillips’ physical.
Phillips now joins Jowon Briggs as the second DT that the Jets traded for Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/5FkVEHsox3
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 20, 2025
Honestly, this trade came completely out of left field. Harrison Phillips was a quality starting nose tackle who anchored the NFL’s best run defense last season. A team captain in 2024, Phillips was Minnesota’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award nominee in 2023 and was an active member of the community who was beloved by fans for his character on and off the field. Contrary to his alias, “Horrible Harry” is the kind of person you want to represent your franchise.
Considering how important Phillips was to Minnesota’s defense last season, the return they got for him was shockingly low. Minnesota paid $3.7 million of Phillips’ $7.4 million salary in 2025 to move off the 29-year-old’s contract. Essentially, Adofo-Mensah purchased a 2026 6th-round pick for $3.7 million while giving up an above-average starting nose tackle for a late Day 3 pick swap in 2027.
Given how bizarre this deal was, one has to wonder what Kwesi was cooking with the Harrison Phillips trade.
What is Kwesi cooking? pic.twitter.com/jY4a1BiI9g
— 𝑻𝒚𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝑰𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 🍀 (@TylerTalksBall) August 21, 2025
Assuming that no additional trades follow this transaction, the only thing Kwesi cooked here was low-purity methamphetamine mixed with Chili P., which he promptly smoked before calling Kevin O’Connell’s college roommate and New York Jets general manager Darren Mougey to broker this completely brain-dead deal. Hyperbole aside, I choose to believe that this precedes a more prominent transaction that will not only explain, but totally justify the Phillips trade.
In fairness to Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, there are some positives to doing this deal now. It nets the Vikings an additional 6th-round pick and $3.7 million in cap space, both of which can be used to acquire a certain veteran wide receiver who grew up in Detroit Lakes and once practiced dental sales. I didn’t think the Carolina Panthers would be interested in trading Adam Thielen, but rumor has it he’s trying to force his way out of Charlotte. Trust SKOR North’s tip line and Kevin O’Connell’s grin during his interview with Kay Adams at your own risk.
👀 pic.twitter.com/dRk0zjZ3rz
— Dustin (@Dust_Vikings) August 21, 2025
By trading away Harrison Phillips, the Vikings are ushering in a youth movement on the defensive line. Brian Flores wouldn’t have signed off on this deal if he didn’t have faith in Jalen Redmond, Levi Drake Rodriguez, Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, and undrafted free agent Elijah Williams. With Phillips out of the picture, Flores now has more flexibility to run a deeper rotation at defensive tackle. Now you could theoretically see Ingram-Dawkins take snaps at 0-tech on first down, then shift to 5-tech on second down, and sub out for Drake Rodriguez on third down.
Elijah Williams is undoubtedly the biggest winner in this trade. The Vikings were unlikely to keep more than six defensive linemen on the final 53-man roster, leaving Williams on the outside looking in if Phillips was still on the team. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah could’ve been forced to either keep seven defensive linemen at the expense of other positions of need, or hope another team poached Williams. Instead, Williams has now all but secured his spot on the team following the trade.
In a vacuum, the Harrison Phillips trade provides the Vikings with greater flexibility to run a more diverse defensive line rotation. However, it also made the team worse in the immediate term because they lost an above-average nose tackle, a team captain, and an important voice in the locker room for chump change. Until we know exactly what Kwesi is cooking, it’s impossible to grade this trade as a whole because it’s likely going to be the precursor to a more exciting deal in the coming days.