Vikings Trading for C Mason Cole

By Adam Roberts – 3/25/2021

Today is the NBA trade deadline, and so Twitter is rife with deals happening all over the league. But don’t forget, deals are also still going down in NFL free agency.

The Vikings yesterday re-signed running back Ameer Abdullah to provide some depth behind star back Dalvin Cook, and today have inked a deal to add an offensive lineman. Mark Sanchez, yep the former Jets QB who now serves as an analyst for ESPN, ABC, and Showtime, has reported the Vikings have reached a deal for center Mason Cole from the Arizona Cardinals. ESPN’s Adam Schefter says the team will send Arizona a sixth-round draft pick for Cole.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said on Twitter the team may play Cole at guard, which would make sense. Ezra Cleveland is firmly in the right guard roster spot, but currently the team’s depth chart has Oli Udoh at left guard, a position he was converted to for part of the 2020 season. The left tackle position is also still undetermined, with some rumors indicating the team may either pursue Orlando Brown Jr or use its draft pick to find a suitable candidate.

Last season, Cole snapped on 81 percent of offensive plays.