With the 2026 NFL Draft approaching on April 23, there will likely be trade talk surrounding Minnesota Vikings‘ Jonathan Greenard.
With the Vikings last season, Greenard posted a 74.2 overall defensive grade from PFF, placing 31st out of 115 qualified edge defenders in 2025. His pass-rush grade came in at 77.6, good for 18th, while his 77.8 run-defense grade ranked 12th at the position.
He finished the year with 47 total pressures, including four sacks, 35 hurries, and eight hits. Moreover, he recorded 24 solo tackles and forced one fumble.
Nonetheless, with the Vikings looking to compete this upcoming season, should Minnesota keep the veteran edge rusher rather than secure assets for him? ESPN NFL analyst Louis Riddick shared his thoughts on whether Minnesota should keep the player.
“When you have guys like Jonathan and Dallas [Turner] and Andrew [Van Ginkel], those are guys who you can kind of get drawn into, like playing this kind of fantasy football type of scenario a little bit too much when you’re talking about trading guys away who play premium positions who have the kind of game-changing ability like Jonathan has, like Dallas Turner has,” Riddick said in an April 13 video.
“I don’t like getting into that too much as far as constantly playing, having this revolving door, and saying, you know what, we can trade him, get some assets, and we’ll just replace him.
“It’s not always that easy. I like kind of getting guys, developing them, and arrive at fair market value, where you feel a little bit uncomfortable with maybe what you gave him. The player feels a little bit uncomfortable with maybe what he left on the table. But simply because you know it’s what’s best for the football team.
Vikings Urged to Keep Jonathan Greenard
Amid the rumors, Alec Lewis of The Athletic shared his take on whether the Vikings should trade Greenard with the NFL Draft approaching.
“I don’t think they should trade Jonathan Greenard unless they can get a first-round pick, which I don’t expect them to land,” Lewis said on the March 31 edition of “Purple Insider.”
“The sack production in 2025 is what it is, but when you dig into the advanced metrics and the film, it tells a better story. His pass rush win rate, quick pressure rate and run stop rate all improved compared to 2024.”
Moreover, Lewis believes that keeping Greenard will give the Vikings an insurance policy in case Dallas Turner regresses after recording eight sacks last season.
“I also think, yes, did Dallas Turner take a big step over the back half of the 2025 season?” Lewis added. “Absolutely, he did. I can’t wait to see how he builds on that in 2026. But to expect him to reach the level of production Jonathan Greenard has is lofty.
“I do think it’s important on a defense where, besides Andrew Van Ginkel, the only other reliable defensive lineman right now is Jalen Redmond. So I just think he’s too important to this defense, and this defense is too important to being competitive to move him for anything other than something real premium.”
Jonathan Greenard Appears to Be Staying in Minnesota
Despite speculation of a potential trade, head coach Kevin O’Connell said the team intends to keep Greenard on its roster for the upcoming season.
“Kevin O’Connell on if he expects Jonathan Greenard on the roster this season: “Yeah, I expect him to be part of our team,” Seifert posted on March 30 on X. “I know there’s always conversations, there’s conversations this week, there’s conversations throughout the offseason.”
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