The Philadelphia Eagles have been quiet like the rest of the NFL at this stage of free agency. But one way they can make some noise is by trading for Minnesota Vikings pass-rusher Jonathan Greenard. Greenard has been the subject of trade rumors, as SI’s Albert Breer reported he is looking for “a market correction” on the four-year, $76 million contract he signed in 2024.
While several teams have been interested, and the Eagles have been linked as one of the top suitors by Alec Lewis of The Athletic, the dream of a Greenard trade seemed to take a big dive as Vikings head coach spoke to reporters at the NFL’s league meetings in Arizona on Monday.
“I expect him to be part of our team,” O’Connell said via ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. “I know there’s always conversations, there’s conversations this week, there’s conversations throughout the offseason. And we’ll continue to kind of attack things at the different phases. We’re getting ready to really jump heavily into draft meetings when we get back, but at the same time, we’re always going to try to do what’s best for the team and also what we think is best for each one of our individual players. And that’s an ongoing thing throughout every offseason.”
Vikings’ Cost for Jonathan Greenard Trade May Be Too Much for Eagles
O’Connell’s comments are interesting as they reiterated that he would like to have Greenard on the team. But they also didn’t completely slam the door on the possibility of a trade. One of the league’s best pass-rushers by analytics, Greenard had a rough year with three sacks, 47 pressures, and a 15.5 percent pass-rush win rate according to Pro Football Focus. But he was much better in 2024, logging 12.0 sacks, ranking third among edge rushers with 80 pressures and 19th with a 15.3 percent pass rush win rate.
Those numbers make Greenard a player they don’t want to get rid of. But the Vikings may have to given the report that Lewis, which added that Greenard’s angst could be caused in part by Jaelan Phillips’s four-year, $120 million contract with the Carolina Panthers and Odafe Oweh’s four-year, $96 million contract with the Washington Commanders this spring.
“Teams pay premiums to players who are available in the open market,” Lewis wrote. “The league-wide salary cap increase also contributes to the rise in value, and players typically want to be paid the going rate for their services. Hence, Greenard and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, entered the spring wanting a re-worked deal.”
This makes Greenard available to the Eagles, but it will come at a hefty price. The Vikings will want something substantial to make trading Greenard worth their while, and the Eagles may not be willing to pay that price, knowing Greenard could be seeking a new contract between $30 and $40 million. Minnesota has also worked out previous one-year band-aids in similar situations, including Danielle Hunter signing a one-year, $17 million contract before the 2023 season, meaning they may choose to wait it out until they see an offer they like.
With nine picks in this year’s draft, the Eagles could part with one or two to make a deal. But it would also likely have to involve picks from a deeper 2027 class and also require a significant financial commitment. It may mean that O’Connell is simply telling everyone to up their offers to get a deal done, but it also could be a moment of truth that the Eagles may have to pivot off Greenard to improve their pass rush.