After the forever loss of Khyree Jackson, season loss of Mekhi Blackmon, and short-term loss of Shaquill Griffin, the Minnesota Vikings corners have taken some hits. Currently, the team’s active corners look something like this.
Byron Murphy Jr.
Shaquill Griffin
Akayleb Evans
Andrew Booth Jr.
Duke Shelley
A.J. Green III
Jaylin Williams
Dwight McGlothern
Jacobi Francis
Duke Shelley and Jacobi Francis were added to the roster last week. Shelley was added before the loss of Mekhi Blackmon for the season. Francis was added soon after.
During the 2000 season the Vikings top corner was arguably converted receiver Robert Tate. I’ve seen some bleak cornerback times in Minnesota. The Vikings current cornerback situation is nothing like those. It isn’t great but it is nowhere near some of those past tragic times. I still can’t quite work my way around the tragic loss of Khyree Jackson. Korey Stringer’s death in 2001 was brutal. I hoped to never experience something like that again. Now Jackson. Team’s lose players to injuries all the time. Jackson’s just gone. There’s no rehab from that. I sure wish there was. About three weeks later, Mekhi Blackmon is lost for the season with a torn ACL on the first day of training camp. Fortunately, there’s rehab from that. Still, he’s gone for the year. Two of the team’s top four corners are gone before Day 2 of training camp. On Day 2, Shaquill Griffin limped off the field with a minor “soft tissue” injury. He might be away from practice for as much as a week. Two days in and three of the team’s top four cornerbacks aren’t available. Griffin should be back next week. After all, Vikings cornerbacks can’t keep coming up injured. Even without Griffin, the 2024 corners are not as bad 2000. That doesn’t make it ok. That just means that it can be worse.
I trust Brian Flores.
If the Vikings add no one, they will make do with the cornerbacks that they have. And they will do better than just make do. Griffin will be back. Some combination of Byron Murphy Jr, Griffin, Akayleb Evans, and even Andrew Booth Jr. and Duke Shelley can get the job done. I believe that the wildcard of the group is undrafted rookie Dwight McGlothern.
I expect the Vikings to add another starting caliber corner. Kevin O’Connell pretty much said as much. Signing a free agent like J.C. Jackson. Adoree’ Jackson, or Stephon Gilmore feels easy. If they go that route, I favor one of the Jacksons. Perhaps something more bold is in the works. It sounds like Lewis Cine has been in street clothes for the past two practices. I can’t help but wonder if he’s about to be traded. The first pick of the O’Connell-Kwesi Adofo-Mensah regime has been buried at the bottom of a loaded safety group. After the brutal leg injury early in his 2022 rookie season, Cine has faced an impossible depth chart climb. Harrison Smith is still playing. Cam Bynum is establishing himself as franchise fixture. Josh Metellus is a safety by name and do-everything by play. Theo Jackson has worked his way into a safety role. In a single season, Jay Ward has established a special teams presence and shown enough to have a future with the defense. Cine just can’t find a place or any traction in Minnesota. He deserves an opportunity and he’s not currently getting one. Perhaps a trade of Lewis Cine to the Buffalo Bills for Kaiir Elam could be a very good thing for all parties involved.
So, the Vikings corners after a lazy free agent signing:
Byron Murphy Jr.
Shaquill Griffin
J.C. Jackson/Adoree’ Jackson/Stephon Gilmore
Akayleb Evans
Andrew Booth Jr.
Duke Shelley
A.J. Green III
Jaylin Williams
Dwight McGlothern
Jacobi Francis
Or, the Vikings corners after a somewhat bold swap of former first-round picks:
Byron Murphy Jr.
Shaquill Griffin
Kaiir Elam
Akayleb Evans
Andrew Booth Jr.
Duke Shelley
A.J. Green III
Jaylin Williams
Dwight McGlothern
Jacobi Francis
What’s best for the Vikings this season? They don’t have the picks in 2025 to make a big swing at a cornerback addition. That’s one of the reasons I like a Cine for Elam trade. Both have struggled gaining traction with the team that drafted them in the first round. Maybe a change of scenery could be the key to both playing to the talent that got them drafted in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Who knows? Cine skipping the past two practices feels like a trade is in the air. I actually feel like a trade for a starting caliber corner is more likely than simply signing one of the corners on the market.
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