Jonathan Greenard spent most of the offseason at the center of trade speculation, and the Minnesota Vikings eventually made a move. The team dealt the veteran pass rusher to the Philadelphia Eagles.
On April 24, Minnesota sent Greenard to Philadelphia in exchange for two third-round picks, including the No. 98 selection in this year’s draft and another third-rounder in the following year. The Vikings later used the No. 98 pick on former Miami Hurricanes defensive back Jakobe Thomas on Day 2 of the draft.
With Greenard now gone, Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune shared behind-the-scenes details of the trade, noting that Minnesota wasn’t going to stand in the pass rusher’s way if he found a team that could meet the trade demand and pay him the money he’s looking for.
“Jonathan Greenard has been looking for a bigger deal [and] he gets it from the Eagles: Four years, reportedly $100 million,” Goessling said on the April 24 edition of “StribSports Access Vikings.” “… We will see what the actual figures of the deal turn out to be. But he gets a raise, certainly more than he was making in Minnesota. I believe he was the 23rd highest-paid edge rusher in the NFL.
“He wanted to get more, and the Vikings had basically told him, ‘We are comfortable with where we are paying you, but if you can find a better deal somewhere else, you are free to shop around for that.‘ I think that is an interesting thing. They are not just like, ‘Tough, you signed the deal, we are going to keep you here even if you are kind of unhappy about it.‘ That is not typically how they go about it.”
Minnesota Had to Get Salary Cap Under Control
Moreover, Goessling noted that the Vikings really wanted to get their salary cap situation under control, and trading Greenard does that.
“[Vikings interim general manager Rob Brzezinski] made it clear that there has not been a directive from ownership to cut back on costs or anything like that,“ Goessling added. “It is just that you have to manage your cap and be at a point where you are not trying to do all of these back flips every single year. So it did seem like there is an effort to get the cap back under control a little bit more, at the same time that he wanted a raise.”
Vikings Interim GM Talks Decision to Trade Jonathan Greenard
Following the end of Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft, Brzezinski shared a major reason Minnesota decided to part ways with the edge rusher, despite wanting to compete in the upcoming 2026 NFL season.
“He’s an impact player,“ Brzezinski said (h/t Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune). “It’s something we understand is not making the Minnesota Vikings a better team today. But there’s a lot of factors involved, and particularly with the economics, we were able to reach a resolution that made sense for the Vikings.
“We’re going to miss him. We’re happy he was able to get himself a new contract, but this is not something we’re jumping around excitedly about. We did feel like it was the best thing for the organization moving forward.”
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