Should the Vikings Explore a Trade for Chargers Cornerback Desmond King?

The former All-Pro is just 25 years old but would become the senior member of the Vikings' cornerback room.

I wouldn't give it official "rumor" status at this point, but there's certainly a little bit of buzz building up about the possibility of the Vikings trading for Chargers cornerback Desmond King II. At the very least, it's something fun to speculate about in the quietest portion of the NFL offseason.

On Thursday, ESPN's Field Yates posted an article containing five potential trades that make sense for both sides. One of those was the Vikings trading left tackle Riley Reiff (and agreeing to pay $3.8 million of his base salary) to the Chargers for King.

For the Vikings, this would free up salary cap space by moving Reiff and his $13.2 million cap hit, which is the second-highest on the team for 2020. It would also give Mike Zimmer another talented cornerback to work with. At 25 years old, King would become the elder statesmen of the Vikings' renovated CB room.

The Chargers have a weakness at left tackle and might value the veteran presence of Reiff to protect the blindside of either Tyrod Taylor or Justin Herbert. While King is talented, he has come up in trade rumors this offseason for a number of reasons. The Chargers acquired elite slot corner Chris Harris Jr., making King potentially expendable. He is also coming off of a down season (one that included a one-game suspension for violating team rules) and is entering a contract year.

Perhaps reacting to the ESPN article, Vikings defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson tweeted "DK?" with several emojis. King liked the tweet. The two were teammates at Iowa from 2013 to 2016 and are good friends.

😳😳👀 DK?

— Jaleel Johnson (@leellxvii) June 25, 2020

This isn't the first time King and the Vikings have been speculated as a good match. Back before the draft, ESPN's Bill Barnwell proposed a hypothetical three-team blockbuster where the Vikings landed Trent Williams and King for Anthony Harris, Reiff, a first-round pick, and a fourth. Reiff would've gone to Washington in that scenario, with Harris going to the Chargers.

Given the Vikings' youth at the cornerback position and the Chargers' uncertainty at left tackle – Sam Tevi and Trey Pipkins are their current options – this hypothetical trade makes sense on paper. But when you dig deep, I'm not sure it's actually a logical move for the Vikings.

There's no doubt that King is talented and would upgrade the Vikings' secondary in 2020. Here's what I wrote about him when assessing Barnwell's trade idea back in April:

The 2017 fifth-round pick from Iowa is an excellent slot cornerback and punt returner who could fill the shoes of Mackensie Alexander and Marcus Sherels in those two roles. King received elite grades from PFF in 2017 and 2018. After the 2018 season, he was named a first team All-Pro at both defensive back and punt returner. In just three seasons, King has four interceptions, 6.5 sacks, and four touchdowns (two INT returns, two punt returns).

The issue is that trading for King doesn't make as much sense now as it did prior to the draft. The Vikings took two corners among their first four picks and then added a punt returner in K.J. Osborn in the fifth round. King is 5-foot-10 and has played slot corner during his three NFL seasons; the Vikings already have two 5-foot-10 corners who could play in the nickel in Mike Hughes and first-round pick Jeff Gladney.

Also, I'm not sure the Vikings will want to trade Reiff this summer, even though his contract isn't great. Given the unusual circumstances of this offseason, it would be a lot to ask of second-round pick Ezra Cleveland to throw him into the fire at left tackle right away. Reiff is at least a solid, experienced option there, and he could move to guard at some point if the Vikings deem Cleveland to be ready.

The counter-argument is that King's talent outweighs any concerns about fit. He has proven to be an excellent NFL cornerback, which can't be said about Hughes, Gladney, Cameron Dantzler, or Holton Hill. He played outside corner at Iowa and was named the best defensive back in the country in 2015, and also has the skillset to potentially move to safety down the line. King has also proven himself as an elite punt returner, and Osborn isn't a guarantee to pan out in that role. Getting Reiff's contract off the books sooner rather than later would give the Vikings some additional flexibility going forward, and they could turn to Rashod Hill briefly if Cleveland isn't ready to start right away.

It's definitely an interesting discussion. There's nothing that suggests that this is anything more than speculation at this point, but King's name is one to remember going forward.

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