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Minnesota Vikings' compensation for Sam Howell trade gets a little more complicated with latest revelation

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Tyler Forness | Last updated Aug 25, 2025 6:53 PM ET

Over the last week, the Minnesota Vikings have made a couple of trades that have shaken things up on the roster. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah acquired two sixth-round picks in exchange for defensive tackle Harrison Phillips and a seventh-round pick, and flipped one of those sixth-round picks with Sam Howell to the Philadelphia Eagles for fifth and seventh-round picks.

Initially, there were no reports on any conditions for those picks. However, the NFL transaction wire tells a different story.

Vikings 5th round pick acquired for Sam Howell is conditional

The trade for Howell was a surprising one, as nobody expected the Vikings to get anything for him after such a poor preseason and training camp. Luckily, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman made the call. They likely saw themselves in a tough spot once Aidan O'Connell suffered a broken wrist in the final preseason game.

The trade was interesting for a multitude of reasons, but one element that wasn't reported initially was the fifth-round pick being conditional. That was only listed on the NFL transaction wire.

Something interesting from yesterday's transaction wire:

The 5th round pick the Minnesota Vikings acquired from the Philadelphia Eagles in the Sam Howell trade was labeled as conditional pic.twitter.com/R4iogV1TNC
— Tyler Forness (@TheRealForno) August 25, 2025

It's interesting that only the fifth-round pick was marked as conditional, and it sentds a lot of different signals. First one is trying to figure out what the condition might be? The highest likelihood is a playing time incentive, which is what Cam Robinson had on his deal that elevated a fifth-round pick to a fourth-round pick, while simultaneously cancelling out the Vikings getting a seventh-round pick.

There are other different conditions that it could be. It could be an incentive to be active for multiple games this season, which the Vikings also had with Nick Mullens when they acquired him from the Las Vegas Raiders for a seventh-round pick in 2022.

The other potential option is it could be based on the highest or lowest of the Eagles' fifth-round picks when the season ends, including projected compensatory picks. They are currently projected to get a fifth-round pick for losing Mekhi Becton. They also have the Atlanta Falcons and Houston Texans' fifth-round picks, and could also have the San Francisco 49ers' fifth-round pick if certain conditions are met with the Bryce Huff trade.

Whatever the condition is, the Vikings could get a better or worse draft pick from the Eagles. Because the pick is conditional, the Vikings won't be able to trade the pick, as it's going to be in limbo until the condition is met, which is almost certainly going to happen once the season ends. That could end up hurting them in trying to complete the trade for Adam Thielen.

It's certainly an interesting element added to the trade, but it could work out to their advantage.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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