Vikings’ Offseason Could Still Take One More Major Turn in July

The Minnesota Vikings enter the 2026 season on the heels of a busy offseason. The Vikings hired a new general manager, brought in a load of talent in the draft and may have even added a new starting quarterback as part of their offseason moves, but there’s still a sense the job isn’t finished with training camp rapidly approaching.

That’s because the Vikings could still use another edge rusher. Minnesota has an in-house replacement for Jonathan Greenard in Dallas Turner, but there are still depth concerns.

With that, the door is open for one more addition and adding another edge rusher could give the Vikings' offseason one final turn of events.

Vikings could still use another edge rusher as training camp approaches

By most accounts, Turner should be ready to take the torch from Greenard. After logging 12 pressures and three sacks in 310 defensive snaps during his rookie season, he produced 42 pressures with nine sacks last season according to Pro Football Focus. Turner also looked more comfortable playing in Greenard’s role than Van Ginkel’s last season and it should help offset the loss of Greenard even if Turner doesn’t live up to the same standard as his 2024 campaign, when he recorded 80 pressures and 12.0 sacks.

But the issue here is what’s behind Turner and Van Ginkel. Van Ginkel hadn't missed a game in four years entering last season but the 2025 campaign was filled with a neck injury and a concussion that limited him to 12 games. The Vikings also added Jake Golday in the second round of the draft, but while he has the versatility to play on the edge, defensive coordinator Brian Flores may want to slow-play his development the same way he did with Turner in his rookie season.

That means the Vikings could use an edge rusher who can play right away, and it opens the door to some possibilities.

The free-agent market would be the easiest way to add a veteran and has some enticing names including Jadeveon Clowney and Joey Bosa. But while those players would add some star power to the Vikings’ defense, they may seek someone like Yetur Gross-Matos, who recorded 13 pressures and posted a 75.7 grade on 121 pass-rushing snaps per PFF last season.

Another potential target is Kyle Van Noy, who played for Flores both as a member of the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins. But there is a bridge that needs to be repaired after Flores surprisingly cut Van Noy one season into a four-year, $51 million contract following the 2020 season.

The other avenue the Vikings could go is via trade. A blockbuster for Maxx Crosby of the Las Vegas Raiders or Kayvon Thibodeaux of the New York Giants is unlikely due to the likely cost of acquisition. But Myles Murphy of the Cincinnati Bengals is a former first-round pick that could use a change of scenery and James Houston of the Dallas Cowboys could be expendable after the team acquired Rashan Gary earlier this spring.

The trade avenue could also allow the Vikings to kick the can down the road, letting some of their in-house options such as having Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, Bo Richter or Tyler Batty step up in a larger role. But the Vikings would be best-served being proactive to get any acquired player time to adapt to Flores’s system.

In the end, the Vikings have some options. But adding an edge rusher seems like a formality, and that addition will likely come before training camp.

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