Vikings’ $4 Million Sunken Starter Deemed Trade Chip

Minnesota Vikings cornerback Akayleb Evans is the odd man out of the team’s cornerback corps and could be on the move at the trade deadline, according to ESPN beat reporter Kevin Seifert.

“Evans started two games as a rookie in 2022 and 15 last season, but he is now buried on the depth chart behind veterans Stephon Gilmore, Byron Murphy Jr. and Shaquill Griffin,” Seifert wrote in an October 23 trade deadline primer. “At 6-foot-2 and 198 pounds, he has the kind of size that teams covet at the position. The Vikings aren’t necessarily looking to move him, and he could be elevated based on injuries, but at the moment there isn’t a clear path for him to get on the field.”

In the third year of his $4.3 million rookie deal, Evans was given plenty of tread in Brian Flores’ first season as defensive coordinator in 2023. He was benched twice in the final three weeks of the season and competed for a starting spot in the offseason.

The Vikings went on to sign Gilmore late in training camp to bolster the starting cornerback group — leaving Evans sidelined. The 2022 fourth-round pick has played just three defensive snaps this season.

Short on draft capital in 2025, Minnesota could recoup a pick by selling Evans to a cornerback-needy team. However, no backup has been entrusted to take any snaps at outside corner other than Evans. He seems to be security if any of the veterans miss time.

Vikings CB Akayleb Evans Addresses Being Benched in 2023

Through his 15 starts in 2023, Evans saw seismic highs and lows as a young player.

He allowed just two receptions for 12 yards in a Week 1 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played every snap in a 3-0 shutout of the Las Vegas Raiders, the franchise’s first since 2017. He forced three fumbles with his physical style of play.

However, a calf injury and mental errors compounded over the final weeks of the season. Evans allowed 15 catches on 20 targets in coverage for 221 yards in the final three weeks of the season, including two meetings with the Detroit Lions.

Evans was pulled after consecutive catches by Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown on his side of the field in the Vikings’ season finale.

“It’s been tough,” Evans told the Minnesota Star Tribune in January. “Dealing with the injury and stuff like that. Schematically figuring out, like, what it is I’m trying to do each game, how to attack certain things. It’s been a very good learning lesson, I feel like, for me.”

Evans spent time this offseason better training his body for the demands of his position after he largely focused on filling his frame in his rookie season.

“Certain movements,” Evans said. “When I first got to the league, I got really strong, you know what I mean? Working on bench press and stuff like that, so I feel like I haven’t been able to move as well as I used to. So I’ll continue to work on that, get on the JUGS machine [for catching], and really just learning the game even more. That’s going to be my focus starting out in the offseason. Everything is going to come together.”

As Evans is bound to the bench so long Minnesota’s starting cornerbacks remain healthy, his message is one to bear in mind.

“It’s tough,” he told the Star Tribune. “There’s certain conversations I have with Coach, why certain things are going the way they’re going. But playing cornerback — any position, really, but especially cornerback — you have to have confidence within yourself, and you hope the guys around and the coaching staff has trust in you and believes in you. Just staying steady, realizing the big picture of things, realizing the areas I can grow in and taking ownership of that. That’s all I can do.”

Vikings Need Help at CB in 2025

Another argument for keeping Evans and seeing his development through is the fact the Vikings’ depth chart is bare at the position in 2025.

Murphy, Griffin and Gilmore are all playing on expiring contracts and are not guaranteed to be re-signed.

The Vikings expect to get Mekhi Blackmon back after the second-year corner tore his ACL in the summer, but Blackmon is the only trusted starter rostered for next season.

Minnesota has cap space to restock the cornerback room, but good cornerbacks don’t often reach free agency.

Banking on replenishing solely through free agency would be risky. Keeping Evans and potentially drafting a first-round corner are all options that should be considered.

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