Minnesota Vikings: Could Desmond King trade actually happen?

Minnesota Vikings speculation connects the team to a possible Desmond King trade.

One of the biggest question marks leading into the upcoming 2020 NFL season for the Minnesota Vikings is the uncertainty surrounding the cornerback position. With multiple players on that side of the ball and specifically within that position that should be in a position to step up and gain larger roles this year, there will be a new crew taking over on the back end of the defense for the Vikings.

During the offseason, Minnesota ended up parting ways with a majority of its secondary from the 2019 campaign and in years prior to that, including moving on from cornerbacks Xavier Rhodes, Mackensie Alexander, Trae Waynes and others.

With new faces set to step into that spot on defense, some players currently on the Vikings’ depth chart that will play large roles in 2020 are Mike Hughes, Holton Hill, and rookies Jeff Gladney and Cameron Dantzler, among others.

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But Minnesota might also end up looking towards the trade market or even free agency to further bolster that group which has seen the largest amount of turnover on the roster.

One name that has popped up recently in the trade market surrounds current Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Desmond King, who finished up his third season in the NFL and with the Chargers in 2019.

Last week, ESPN insider Field Yates listed possible trades for the 2020 season. One trade, in particular, involved Los Angeles and Minnesota centered around King and Vikings offensive tackle Riley Reiff. Reiff has struggled to some extent in Minnesota and he might be a player Los Angeles would like to take a chance on to protect its new quarterback set to lead the offense this year.

Initially, this trade would not only work but it does make sense for both teams as both players address the other team’s needs going into the season.

Could the Minnesota Vikings end up trading for defensive back Desmond King?

Specifically for the Vikings, they did add a few offensive linemen — most notably Boise State’s Ezra Cleveland, who the team is very high on, in the second round of April’s NFL Draft — to insert into the front line to potentially replace Reiff. And adding some like King would not only help the cornerback depth but could place someone into a starting role right away to pair well alongside Hughes on the other side of the field.

When it comes to who Minnesota would be getting in King, it would get a nice young piece to place in the back end of the defense for perhaps the next few years while continuing to groom rookies Gladney and Dantzler to eventually get larger roles on defense.

King, who will turn 26 years old in December, appeared in 15 of the 16 regular-season contests for the Chargers a season ago. She finished the year with 51 combined tackles, 40 solo tackles, four quarterback hits, 2.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble.

The other intriguing thing about King is he would offer the Vikings flexibility if it didn’t want to commit to him beyond the 2020 season. King is on the last year of his current rookie contract, so he is not only a cheap option for this year but could be a nice bridge player to allow players behind him to continue to develop in the meantime.

There are a bunch of questions surrounding what this cornerback group will look like in 2020 for the Vikings, but one player they could look to make a move for via trade is King in Los Angeles. And adding him to the mix of a new-look defensive back group could be a good option for at least this year.