The Minnesota Vikings are currently running away with the NFC North division. They are 5-1 on the season while no other team in the division has a .500 record; the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears are the closest competition with identical 3-4 records. Could a trade with the Cleveland Browns for Greedy Williams be a move on the horizon to beef up their defense?
While Minnesota has built itself a nice cushion in the early going, there is still more than half the season to go. They know they cannot get complacent and should be on the lookout to upgrade their roster as much as they can ahead of the trade deadline next week.
The Vikings have had a little bit of luck according to some of the analytics, but in a weakened NFC, they can certainly make a run. Their struggles in a Week 2 matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles showed that there are some weaknesses that they need to address if they are to remain in the upper echelon of the conference.
One of those is their pass defense. Minnesota got torched by Jalen Hurts in their only loss of the season and it has been a theme in all six games. They have given up the 10th most passing yards in the NFL thus far this season with 1,632, but they have already had their bye week. Ranking that low despite playing one game fewer than a majority of the league is certainly not encouraging.
Luckily for the Vikings, some intriguing trade targets could be available to help shore up their defensive backfield. One suggested player is Greedy Williams of the Cleveland Browns.
Williams was a second-round pick out of LSU in 2019, but he has fallen out of favor in Cleveland. He is behind Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome II on the depth chart. Injuries have limited him to only two appearances this season, putting Martin Emerson on the field more than him as well.
The team is reportedly open to moving Williams and running back Kareem Hunt in the right deal. Could a 2023 fourth-round pick from the Vikings in exchange for Williams and a 2023 sixth-round pick from the Browns, as suggested by CBS Sports Bryan DeArdo, get a deal done?
Cleveland would likely haggle over sending draft compensation back to the Vikings, but Minnesota should push to get this deal done one way or another. Despite his injuries this season and missing the entire 2020 campaign, Williams is still only 24 years old and has 20 games of starting experience.
It cannot hurt to take a chance on someone with that much talent. If he struggles, they can always turn back to players already on the roster for a second chance or dip into free agency. The pass defense cannot get much worse than it already is, so bringing in some new talent to try and turn things around would be a smart move.
