Joe Huber has been playing quite well in the preseason. In the Minnesota Vikings’ first preseason game against the Houston Texans, Huber finished the game with a 94.7-overall grade at right guard, according to PFF. He stayed consistent all three games, finishing the preseason as the third-highest-graded guard (74.1) in the 2025 draft class and by far the highest-graded run blocker (88.6).
For an undrafted free agent, that’s pretty promising.
However, Huber is unlikely to make the 53-man roster. Blake Brandel is Minnesota’s designated swing guard/tackle, so the Vikings don’t really need another backup guard. So what should they do with Huber?
One option would be to stash Huber on the practice squad and hope he feels obligated to stay after receiving $210,000 in guaranteed money as a priority undrafted free agent. The obvious risk is that another team could poach him.
But what if the Vikings kept Huber on the 53-man roster? Right now, I project that the Vikings will keep nine offensive linemen: Christian Darrisaw, Donovan Jackson, Ryan Kelly, Will Fries, Brian O’Neill, plus Justin Skule, Walter Rouse, Michael Jurgens, and Brandel. I find it unlikely that the Vikings would be willing to keep 10 offensive linemen and three backup interior offensive linemen.
In all likelihood, the Vikings would trade swing guard/tackle Brandel to create space for Huber. I’m not sure if they are eager to trade Brandel because of his positional versatility at tackle and guard. Brandel is also in the middle of a three-year, $9.5 million contract, and his cap hit is only $3.9 million in 2025. Former Baltimore Ravens swing guard Patrick Mekari just signed a three-year, $37.5 million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars this offseason, so Brandel is on a team-friendly deal.
Although Brandel offers positional versatility on an affordable contract, he struggled in 2024. Pro Football Focus ranked Brandel 98th overall among 136 guards, 74th in pass protection, and 90th as a run blocker. This offseason, the Vikings hired a new assistant offensive line coach, Keith Carter, who is placing more emphasis on toughness and grit within the team’s existing outside-zone blocking scheme.
Garrett Bradbury and Dalton Risner struggled with physicality, and the Vikings replaced them with Kelly and Fries, two stronger offensive linemen. They demoted Brandel to a backup role after drafting Donovan Jackson 25th overall, so there’s a chance Brandel could want out of Minnesota so he could get more playing time. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah also has a history of trading away backup offensive linemen like Vederian Lowe and Jesse Davis before cutdown day, so there is precedent for this sort of thing.
Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Jalen Nailor, and Tai Felton are all dealing with various injuries. Jefferson should be ready for Week 1 after aggravating his hamstring before training camp. Nailor is getting second opinions from doctors on his hand injury, which could be more serious than the Vikings have indicated. During Wednesday’s practice, Addison “jammed something and finished practice on the sidelines,” while Felton left practice with a wrap around his arm. Both are considered minor injuries, but the Vikings still could use wide receiver help.
The New England Patriots have a wealth of wide receiver depth, but lack depth at the offensive line. In 2023, the Vikings traded Lowe to the New England Patriots for a 2024 sixth-round pick; the Patriots also signed Garrett Bradbury this offseason. Perhaps New England’s coaching staff would be interested in another offensive lineman who comes from the same blocking scheme. Minnesota is reportedly looking to acquire a veteran wide receiver, and they just cleared up nearly $4 million after the Harrison Phillips trade.
Adofo-Mensah has two interesting options here. One would be to trade Brandel to the Patriots for additional draft capital that the Vikings could use to acquire Adam Thielen. If that doesn’t work and the Thielen trade talks go sideways, they could also inquire about Patriots veteran receiver Kendrick Bourne as a fallback option.
The Vikings have some tough decisions to make ahead of cutdown day. It would not shock me if Kwesi Adofo-Mensah makes multiple trades an hour before the deadline ends. Joe Huber’s emergence could make Blake Brandel expendable as trade bait for a team needing offensive line depth.