Trade Proposal Lands Vikings Breakout Starting CB
The Minnesota Vikings defense has been exposed this season, and the franchise could use the trade deadline to acquire secondary players as the team tries to make the playoffs after a 1-4 start.
That’s the logic behind an argument made by Bleacher Report’s Christopher Knox, who suggested on Friday, Oct. 27, that the Vikings will bolster their defensive backfield by trading Tennessee Titans cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting.
If the Minnesota Vikings are more interested in making the playoffs in the second half of the season than trading a veteran, landing a quality defensive back should be high on their priority list.
Their defense has improved under new coordinator Brian Flores, but they rank 20th in net yards per pass attempt allowed.
Murphy-Bunting would be a great target for the Vikings.
… Murphy-Bunting is also on a one-year deal, meaning Tennessee could be willing to sign him when he’s ready to finish the rest of the season.
Corner no.
0 Tennessee Titans Sean Murphy-Bunting celebrates a tackle during an NFL game against the Cleveland Browns in September 2023.
Murphy-Bunting enters a new season in more ways than one.
First, he transitioned to a full-time job for the first time in his five-year career.
KB, 26, started all six games in 2023 and played 96% of the team’s 74% defensive snaps last campaign.
Murphy-Bunting plays relatively well against defenders given the number of pass attempts he makes.
According to Pro Football Reference, he holds career highs in tackles (29), pass breakups (four so far) and two forced fumbles. Murphy-Bunting also recorded his seventh shutout of the season.
The cornerback spent his first four years in the league with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He has appeared in 59 regular season games, starting 42 of those games, since the Bucs selected him in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson is set for a historic contract extension next season.
Murphy-Bunting’s contract also makes sense for cash-strapped Minnesota as the team continues to move into a new era after several years.
Peppers signs a one-year contract worth $3.5 million and becomes a free agent in March 2024.
The Vikings have about $8 million in salary cap space for 2023 and currently have more than $38 million to spend next year.
Minnesota could use Murphy-Bunting or C.J. Henderson from the Carolina Panthers is on a one-year loan. If Flores likes what he sees, the team could consider re-signing All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson to a long-term contract extension.
The Vikings could also decide to trade before the NFL trade deadline on Oct.
31, which could mean parting ways with players like cornerback Daniel Hunter.
But Minnesota’s upcoming schedule and three wins in the past four weeks to improve the team’s record to 3-4 have put the Vikings back in the playoffs.
The ESPN Football Power Index (FPI) now projects Minnesota to win 8.2 and 8.7 games this season, giving the Vikings a 55.4 percent chance to make the playoffs in Week 8.
Those numbers will change if Minnesota enters Lambeau Field on Sunday and can’t beat the Green Bay Packers.
However, the team’s current analysis justifies a deal before the trade deadline to compete in the postseason.
If the Vikings pull this off, a move to help the secondary or defensive end makes the most sense.
Max Dible covers the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns and Golden State Warriors for Heavy.com.
He covered local and national news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and was news director for BigIslandNow.com and the Pacific Media Group family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy.
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