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Vikings Thought They Had Christian Wilkins Locked Up Before Raiders Swooped In

Originally posted on Minnesota Sports Fan
By Eric Strack | Last updated 3/27/24

The Minnesota Vikings have had an eventful offseason, to say the least, and we still have nearly a month remaining until the NFL Draft. But there is one signing they didn’t complete that seems to have Kwesi & Co scratching their heads on how they miscalculated the situation.

Leading up to free agency, there was a lot of steam behind the Vikings’ interest in the best interior defensive lineman set to become available, Christian Wilkins, who was drafted in Miami while Brian Flores was head coach.

Vikings thought they were had Christian Wilkins

And as it turns out, those rumors were 100% true. Not only was Minnesota’s interest in the DT legitimate, but according to Darren “Doogie” Wolfson (KSTP, SKOR North) on Tuesday’s Scoops episode of Mackey & Judd, the Vikings thought they had the best offer lined up for Wilkins as free agency was set to open… until the Las Vegas Raiders got involved and flopped an offer on the d-lineman’s table that surprised everyone involved, especially the Vikings.

“O’Connell alluded to this on Monday, just how much work, how much the Vikings were in on some of these defensive tackles, namely Christian Wilkins. Like, what the Raiders gave Wilkins, I think surprised the Vikings. Those 48 hours leading into the official start of free agency, like I’m telling you, the Vikings were feeling very very good about their chances of landing Christian Wilkins.”
Darren Wolfson – Mackey & Judd (SKOR North)

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has worked with Brian Flores to fill as many gaps on defense, as possible… and they had a lot of them. But additions along the line front seven, plus the return of Harrison Smith gives the Vikings some hope on that side of the ball.

But without a doubt, missing on Wilkins hurt and they know it. Doogie says the Vikings are also very interested in some of the interior defensive linemen who are expected to go on night one of the draft. Assuming Minnesota makes their play for a quarterback that evening, it’s hard to see how they land an interior defensive lineman too, something Wolfson questions too.

“They like a lot of the these interior defensive linemen too in this draft class I don’t know how you maneuver for some of the top guys but they certainly are doing a lot of homework on interior defensive lineman.”
Darren Wolfson – Mackey & Judd (SKOR North)

This article first appeared on Minnesota Sports Fan and was syndicated with permission.

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