Should the Vikings Consider Trading Andrew Booth Jr?
In listing one player every NFL team should consider trading before the regular season begins, Bleacher Report's Matt Holder went with cornerback Andrew Booth Jr. for the Vikings.
To say the least, Andrew Booth Jr.'s NFL career hasn't gotten off to a hot start. He barely played last year before suffering a season-ending knee injury, participating in six contests with one start as a rookie. And it doesn't seem like that will change much in year two.
The Minnesota Vikings signed Byron Murphy Jr. during free agency and drafted another cornerback in Mekhi Blackmon with a third-round selection. That, combined with fellow 2022 pick Akayleb Evans reportedly taking reps with the first-team defense during training camp, has pushed Booth down the depth chart.
However, the Clemson product has plenty of potential as he's only a year removed from being a second-round pick. Someone should be willing to take a chance on him and it doesn't sound like the Vikings are going to use him, so why not make a deal?
Should the Vikings really think about trading Booth? While I understand the line of thinking here, the short answer is no.
Even if Booth is fifth on the Vikings' cornerback depth chart behind Murphy, Evans, Blackmon, and Joejuan Williams, it still feels likely that he makes the roster in a couple weeks. And considering how often cornerbacks get banged up in the NFL, he could be needed for depth reasons.
Trading Booth now would mean punting on a player the Vikings selected 42nd overall just last year — a player who hasn't yet turned 23 years old. It's true that things haven't gone great for Booth in the NFL so far, between injuries and an inability to climb the depth chart when healthy. To be frank, his injury history makes him impossible to count on as a significant part of the team's future until proven otherwise.
But that's also why trading him seems pointless — you'd be selling low. Teams have watched his tape and know about his injuries; would anyone really give up more than a late-round pick for Booth at this moment? That doesn't feel like a worthwhile return for a recent top-50 pick, unless the Vikings truly think he's a lost cause as an NFL corner.
Booth is 22 years old for another month and change. Coming out of Clemson last year, he was viewed as a first-round talent who the Vikings got in the second round because of injury questions. If he can stay healthy — which is an admittedly big 'if' — there could still be plenty of potential here for the Vikings' coaching staff to unlock.
Instead of trading Booth for pennies on the dollar, the smart move is to keep him around and let him continue to develop without forcing him into action unless it becomes necessary. Even though he's off to a slow start this year, Booth still has two weeks of joint practices and two more preseason games to turn it around.
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