The Minnesota Vikings had seen enough from Mike Hughes.
Hughes, who battled injury throughout his tenure, had one season remaining on his contract with the Vikings, which declined to pick up the 2018 first-round pick’s fifth-year option this offseason.
Minnesota desired not to see Hughes’ final year through, instead opting to trade him and a seventh-round pick to the Kansas City Chiefs for a sixth-round pick while shedding $1.8 million in cap space.
Coach Mike Zimmer addressed the decision to part ways with Hughes in a press conference last weekend.
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‘He’s Been Injured an Awful Lot’
Zimmer wasn’t too beat up about the decision to ditch Hughes, explaining that Hughes’ injury history was the biggest factor in a press conference.
“Mike is a terrific kid, but he’s been injured an awful lot,” Zimmer said.
Hughes missed 36 of 50 games in his three seasons in Minnesota between a torn knee ligament his rookie year and two neck injuries.
Considering the Vikings signed longtime Arizona Cardinals veteran Patrick Peterson and former Vikings cornerback Mackensie Alexander, who had a one-year stint with the Cincinnati Bengals, the writing was on the wall for Hughes.
“We were fortunate to get a couple corners (Jeff Gladney and Cameron Dantzler) last year in the draft, we signed Patrick Peterson in free agency, so I think that gave us an opportunity to make the trade,” Zimmer said. “But as far as our corner depth, honestly, you guys laugh at me, but you can never have too many good corners. They just get hurt.”
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Decision to Ditch Hughes Doesn’t Add Up
Zimmer’s final point of cornerbacks getting injured was evident last year when the team had to sign players off the street weekly to fill the roster.
However, that point contradicts the decision to ditch Hughes, the third-most veteran cornerback on the team’s roster.
Jeff Gladney is still facing legal issues after he was charged with felony assault last month. His status remains in question and even if he avoids criminal charges, the NFL could still suspend him.
Minnesota did sign former Green Bay Packers cornerback Parry Nickerson on Monday and is expected to sign undrafted rookie Amari Henderson. But both players are camp bodies until proven otherwise.
The decision to ditch Hughes comes with confidence in 2020 fifth-rounder Harrison Hand and Kris Boyd and Minnesota betting its cornerbacks won’t be bit as harsh by the injury bug in 2021.
Vikings Preparing a Bounty of Cap Space
Clearing Hughes’ $1.8 million cap hit off the books was a small piece of an upcoming cap savings deadline for the Vikings.
After June 1, Minnesota will have another $7.6 million in cap space coming in from Kyle Rudolph’s release. After signing its rookie, Minnesota is expected to have $13.78 million in cap space following the June 1 deadline.
There’s been speculation surrounding where that money could go.
Cornerback was one of the positions under consideration — but with the latest signing of Nickerson providing a brimming cornerbacks room heading into training camp — the Vikings could be pivoting towards an edge rusher in conjunction with extending Danielle Hunter, Brian O’Neill or Harrison Smith.
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