Vikings try to improve passing game by acquiring Dolphins' Mike Wallace

The Minnesota Vikings made a bold move by trading for embattled Dolphins wide receiver Mike Wallace for a fifth- and seventh-round pick.

Doug Farrar | Mar 13, 2015

Vikings try to improve passing game by acquiring Dolphins' Mike Wallace /

Despite the best efforts of rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, the Minnesota Vikings' passing game struggled mightily in 2014. The 7-9 Vikings ranked 28th in passing yards, 29th in passing touchdowns and leading receiver Greg Jennings will be 32 years old in September. The Vikings will unquestionably ask Jennings to renegotiate his current contract, which has an $11 million cap hit in place for this season (Update: Jennings was released by the team on Saturday). Offensive coordinator Norv Turner is still trying to figure out how to use second-year man Cordarelle Patterson, and if this franchise is to get back to the top of a highly competitive NFC North, they're going to have to do better at the receiver position.

• NFL rumors: Latest free-agency, trade-block buzz from around league

They took a step toward solving that problem on Friday night.

As first reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter, Minnesota is set to acquire receiver Mike Wallace from the Miami Dolphins for a fifth-round pick, and the Dolphins will also get a seventh-round pick in the deal. The primary reason the Vikings were able to get Wallace for so little is that his current contract adds a lot to Minnesota's cap situation for now. By trading Wallace, the Dolphins are adding $6.6 million in dead cap space to their 2015 books while freeing up $5.5 million.

“We thank Mike for his contributions to the team over the last two seasons,” Dolphins General Manager Dennis Hickey said in a statement. “We wish him the best in the Minnesota.”

2015 NFL Free Agent Tracker, Grades

Wallace is in the third year of the five-year, $60 million deal he agreed to in March, 2013, and he's struggled to live up to that deal. In 2014, he caught 67 passes on 115 targets for 862 yards and 10 touchdowns -- not awful numbers, but not what a team wants from one of the highest-paid receivers in the league. Former general manager Jeff Ireland put a fireable chip in Wallace's contract by guaranteeing the first two annual base salaries of Wallace's deal and killing the team with a $17.250 million cap hit last season. Wallace has more voidable aspects to his contract through the rest of the deal, which makes the deal palatable to the Vikings.

At his best, Wallace is one of the best pure speed receivers in the league, and he did improve in some ways over his 2013 season as quarterback Ryan Tannehill continued his development. Now, he'll be in an offense with more vertical plays, which could spark a bit more productivity.

Grade: B

Trading for Wallace doesn't preclude the Vikings from finding help in the draft and trying to figure out the Patterson conundrum, but it does add one more weapon to Bridgewater's arsenal. If he can live up to his two 1,000-plus-yard seasons with the Steelers in 2010 and 2011, the Vikings' offense would become an entirely different proposition for opposing defenses. That said, it's a problematic deal from a financial perspective, and Wallace has expressed limited interest in restructuring. This could just as easily be a rent-a-player deal and see Wallace leave Minnesota in 2016.

GALLERY: NFL PLAYERS WHO'LL BE IN A NEW UNIFORM IN 2015

The NFL's Old Faces in New Places

DeMarco Murray, RB

DeMarco-Murray (1).jpg — John W. McDonough/SI

Here are some of the NFL players who'll be with a different team when the 2015 season opens, beginning with DeMarco Murray, who's moving on from the Dallas Cowboys to NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles.

LeSean McCoy, RB

Old team: Eagles; New team: Bills

Ndamukong Suh, DT

Old team: Lions; New team: Dolphins

Jimmy Graham, TE

Old team: Saints; New team: Seahawks

Darrelle Revis, CB

Old team: Patriots; New team: Jets

Brandon Marshall, WR

Old team: Bears; New team: Jets

Darren McFadden, RB

Old team: Raiders; New team: Cowboys

Haloti Ngata, DT

Old team: Ravens; New team: Lions

Julius Thomas, TE

Old team: Broncos ; New team: Jaguars

Frank Gore, RB

Old team: 49ers; New team: Colts

Antrel Rolle, SS

Old team: Giants; New team: Bears

Nick Foles, QB

Old team: Eagles; New team: Rams

Sam Bradford, QB

Old team: Rams; New team: Eagles

Jeremy Maclin, WR

Old team: Eagles; New team: Chiefs

Torrey Smith, WR

Old team: Ravens; New team: 49ers

Andre Johnson, WR

Old team: Texans; New team: Colts

Byron Maxwell, CB

Old team: Seattle; New team: Eagles

Trent Cole, LB

Old team: Eagles; New team: Colts

Darnell Dockett, DT

Old team: Cardinals; New team: 49ers

Shane Vereen, RB

Old team: Patriots; New team: Giants

Brian Hoyer, QB

Old team: Browns; New team: Texans

Josh McCown, QB

Old team: Bucs; New team: Browns

Cary Williams, CB

Old team: Eagles; New team: Seahawks

Matt Cassell, QB

Old team: Vikings; New team: Bills

Kenny Stills, WR

Old team: Saints; New team: Dolphins

Jared Odrick, DT

Old team: Dolphins; New team: Jaguars

Jacoby Jones, WR

Old team: Ravens; New team: Chargers

Max Unger, C

Old team: Seahawks; New team: Saints

Mike Iupati, G

Old team: 49ers; New team: Cardinals

Rodney Hudson, C

Old team: Chiefs; New team: Raiders

Orlando Franklin, G

Old team: Broncos; New team: Chargers

Kiko Alonso, LB

Old team: Bills; New team: Eagles

Pernell McPhee, LB

Old team: Ravens; New team: Bears

C.J. Spiller, RB

Old team: Bills; New team: Saints

Nick Fairley, DT

Old team: Lions; New team: Rams

Mike Wallace, WR

Old team: Dophins; New team: Vikings

Percy Harvin, WR

Old team: Jets; New team: Bills

Davon House, CB

Old team: Packers; New team: Jaguars

Owen Daniels, TE

Old team: Ravens; New team: Broncos

Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB

Old team: Texans; New team: Jets

Chris Culliver, CB

Old team: 49ers; New team: Redskins

Jerome Simpson, WR

Old team: Vikings; New team; 49ers

Michael Oher, OT

Old team: Titans; New team: Panthers

Brian Orakpo, LB

Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Old team: Redskins; New team: Titans

Harry Douglas, WR

Old team: Falcons; New team: Titans

Ricky Jean-Francois, DT

Old team: Colts; New team: Redskins

A.J. Hawk, LB

Old team: Packers; New team: Bengals

Tyvon Branch, SS

Old team: Raiders; New team: Seahawks

Jordan Cameron, TE

Old team: Browns; New team: Dolphins

Buster Skrine, CB

Old team: Browns; New team: Jets

Shaun HIll, QB

Old team: Rams; New team: Vikings

Dwayne Harris, RB

Old team: Cowboys; New team: Giants

Scott Chandler, TE

Old team: Bills; New team: Patriots

LaMarr Woodley, LB

Old team: Raiders; New team: Chiefs

Reggie Bush, RB

Old team: Lions; New team: 49ers

Dashon Goldson, FS

Old team: Bucs; New team: Redskins

Trent Richardson, RB

Old team: Colts; New team: Raiders

Published Mar 13, 2015

DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009, Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine. He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.