The Green Bay Packers didn’t make any major trades but they still wound up with a haul of talent in the NFL Draft. While wide receivers Matthew Golden and Savion Williams will look to make an impact next season, the Packers didn’t need to give up a ton of draft capital to add them, giving them flexibility to make moves in future drafts.
It’s the double-edged sword that comes with navigating the draft. While there are players that are appealing, it’s important not to sell the farm and put yourself in a position where the pick has to pan out. One NFC North rival is finding that out the hard way and may have just admitted their mistake with an announcement on Tuesday.
Vikings Sound the Alarm on Dallas Turner After Andrew Van Ginkel Extension
The Minnesota Vikings announced that they signed Andrew Van Ginkel to a one-year, $23 million contract extension on Tuesday afternoon. The deal keeps Van Ginkel in Minnesota through the 2026 season and keeps a key part of Brian Flores’s defense in place.
After racking up a career-high 11.5 sacks and earning his first Pro Bowl appearance, it makes sense that the Vikings would want to reward the 29-year-old. But it also may have been a glaring admission about the development of fellow edge rusher Dallas Turner.
The Vikings traded up in the 2024 draft to select Turner with the 17th overall pick. The cost to acquire the Alabama star wasn’t cheap either as Minnesota gave a 2024 fifth-round pick, a 2025 third-round pick and a 2025 fourth-rounder to the Jacksonville Jaguars as part of the deal.
But this wasn’t the only aggressive move the Vikings made during the 2024 offseason. In search for a franchise quarterback, Minnesota shipped a second-rounder (No. 42) and a sixth-rounder (No. 188) in the 2024 draft and their second-round pick in 2025 to the Houston Texans in exchange for their 2024 first-round pick (No. 22) and a seventh-round pick (No. 232).
With two first-round picks, the Vikings figured they had a better shot of trading up for a top prospect such as Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye. But when the Washington Commanders and New England Patriots selected both quarterbacks, Minnesota settled for J.J. McCarthy (10th overall) and tried to salvage their previous decision by trading up for Turner.
ESPN’s Seth Walder was among those who questioned the trade at the time and theorized that the Vikings “basically spent two mid-firsts” on Turner. While the picks were a little devalued thanks to Minnesota’s 14-3 season, Turner didn’t do much to validate the deal in his rookie season.
Turner started the season with a sack in the opening game against the New York Giants but his snap counts dwindled until he played a season-low three snaps in a Week 8 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. His snap count climbed into the 20s for five of the final six games of the regular season (including a 34-snap performance against the Chicago Bears), but Turner wasn’t productive, logging 12 pressures and three sacks on 151 pass-rushing snaps.
The Vikings have played damage control throughout the offseason citing the emergence of Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard as reasons Turner didn’t see the field. Head coach Kevin O’Connell also pumped Turner’s tires ahead of his second season, telling NFL Network he expects a “huge jump” from Turner this season.
This all sounds great but giving $23 million to a pass rusher who will turn 30 in July sends a different message. Maybe Turner is on “The Jordan Love Plan” and the 22-year-old will find his way entering his second season. But the signs aren’t pointing to a sudden breakout, which leaves the Vikings whiffing on a massive gamble.