The Minnesota Vikings took a crowbar to their 2025 draft board last year, swinging a blockbuster trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars to move up six spots in Round 1.
The target? Star Alabama EDGE Dallas Turner, who slid farther than most draft pundits expected as teams loaded up on offensive players — including six quarterbacks — over the first 12-plus selections of the 2024 NFL Draft. The Vikings stopped Turner’s slide, sending Jacksonville a massive package of picks that included Nos. 23 (first round) and 167 (fifth round) in 2024, as well as third- and fifth-round picks in 2025.
When you factor in Minnesota’s pre-draft deal with the Houston Texans to acquire the 23rd overall pick — a package that included a 2025 second-rounder — and Jacksonville later using that selection on superstar wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., you get a sense for the kind of equity GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and the Vikings invested in Turner and his future as a potential franchise EDGE defender for the team.
But after a quiet rookie campaign that saw Turner buried on the depth chart behind veterans Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel and even Pat Jones II, it’s hard to visualize Turner’s path to a starting role anytime soon, especially in the wake of Van Ginkel’s lucrative one-year extension.
Van Ginkel’s deal, reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Tuesday, is worth $22.4 million in guarantees and ties the soon-to-be 30-year-old to the Vikings through the 2026 season. Minnesota has its other All-Pro caliber EDGE rusher, Greenard, under contract through 2027 at $19 million per season.
That kind of future financial capital makes it harder to see Turner’s path to a breakout sophomore season in the NFL. His role is bound to increase naturally with Jones II now with the Carolina Panthers, but based on how defensive coordinator Brian Flores deploys his starters, he’ll be hard-pressed to eat into Van Ginkel’s or Greenard’s snap share unless one of them goes down with an injury.
📲 Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
Turner only played 310 total defensive snaps during his rookie season. The expectation should be for that number to almost double (if not more) in Year 2. Perhaps the plan all along was to bring Turner along slowly, or maybe Van Ginkel simply forced the team’s hand with his brilliant 2024 season that included 50 QB pressures, 13 sacks and a pair of pick-sixes. But teams don’t often trade the haul of draft capital that Minnesota did for Turner to use him as a situational pass rusher.
"I hope people haven't forgotten about Dallas Turner," Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell said recently via the team's YouTube channel. "Really a guy that I'm expecting a huge jump from Year 1 to Year 2. He really started to come on as the season went on last year. It's a tough group, a tough lineup to crack when you've got those top two guys playing the way that they were."
The concerning development is that those top two guys aren't expected to be overtaken anytime soon, making this a situation worth monitoring come training camp and beyond.
MORE VIKINGS NEWS:
- Did Vikings deserve a ‘D’ for NFL Draft? Analyst cites poor equity for barely-passing grade
- Vikings NFL Draft grades: Minnesota gets mixed reviews from Mel Kiper Jr., other experts
- Vikings finally add J.J. McCarthy’s backup quarterback in Day 3 draft trade with Seahawks
- How NFL experts scored WR Tai Felton to Minnesota to close 3rd round
- Experts weigh in on Minnesota selecting Donovan Jackson No. 24 overall