Tom Pelissero of Netflix and The Ringer said on KFAN 100.3 this week that the Minnesota Vikings should not be expected to land Saquon Barkley or Jonathan Taylor before the Nov. 10 trade deadline.
Minnesota is 6-0 and the NFL’s last unbeaten team after a 16-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Pelissero called running back the team’s No. 1 need.
Aaron Jones Sr. did not practice Wednesday because of a knee injury. He has played through a sprained MCL in his left knee since Week 2, and he aggravated it against Indianapolis.
Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell called Jones day-to-day on Monday. Jordan Mason came off injured reserve last week after fracturing his thumb, with sixth-round rookie Demond Claiborne and practice squad back DeeJay Dallas behind him.
A blockbuster to fix that room is another matter.
Draft capital and the shelf life of running backs topped Pelissero’s list of reasons.
“I wouldn’t sit there and hold my breath for Saquon or Jonathan Taylor or any of those top-end items. And there’s a bunch of reasons for that,” Pelissero said. “One, you have a new GM who is yet to run a draft and doesn’t want to empty out all of his draft capital to go all in on a veteran running back who — the history on running backs has been there. They are depreciating assets, and they can depreciate really quickly.”
Nolan Teasley was named general manager on June 1. Interim GM Rob Brzezinski ran the 2026 draft before Teasley arrived.
Money was the second reason, with a wave of defensive contracts coming.
“The second part of it is the Vikings don’t have a ton of, when you look in the big picture, a ton of money to put toward that position right now,” Pelissero continued. “You’ve got a bunch of guys, probably a half dozen guys on defense, who are waiting to get paid. Dallas Turner is going to be, if you get the contract done this offseason, it’s going to be a monster type of a deal.”
Turner, the No. 17 overall pick in 2024, led the Vikings with eight sacks last season.
Price is the bigger obstacle in Pelissero’s view, even with Indianapolis selling.
“If they’re going to acquire a running back, it may be a little bit too difficult to do something that’s a huge swing, because contrary to what people believe after watching the Colts trade DeForest Buckner and Quenton Nelson this week, it’s not a fire sale,” Pelissero said.
Indianapolis sent Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks on Tuesday for a 2027 third-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick. Buckner went to the San Francisco 49ers the same day for a 2027 fourth-rounder.
“Think of what the top running backs have gone for when they’ve gotten traded. I think Christian McCaffrey was a 2, a 3, a 4 and a 5,” Pelissero added. “If you’re trading for, say, Saquon, who I don’t believe that the Eagles are going to move, or Jonathan Taylor, who the Colts would move, but it’s got to be a real offer, it may not be the McCaffrey price, but it has to be pretty close for where he is.”
San Francisco gave Carolina second-, third- and fourth-round picks in 2023 and a 2024 fifth-rounder for McCaffrey in October 2022.
Taylor has 587 rushing yards on 140 carries through seven games. His eight rushing touchdowns lead the NFL.
Against Minnesota on Sunday, he ran 18 times for 95 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown.
Nelson and Buckner were both in the final year of their deals. Taylor is signed through 2028 after agreeing to a two-year, $44 million extension in August, and his cap hits rise to $21.02 million in 2027 and $22.98 million in 2028.
Colts coach Shane Steichen said Wednesday that Taylor has not asked to be traded. On Tuesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter said on The Pat McAfee Show that his understanding is the Colts do not want to move Taylor.
Barkley’s situation is murkier. The Philadelphia Eagles fell to 2-5 with a 38-21 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Monday. Barkley returned in that game from a hamstring injury that had cost him two games, ran seven times for 62 yards and a touchdown, and left with a back injury.
“They’ll have more information in a couple of weeks, so maybe it changes, but that’s not the type of deal that I’m sitting here thinking they’re going to swing right now,” Pelissero said.
Should Jones’ knee linger, the pressure to add a back only grows. Minnesota visits the 4-2 Detroit Lions on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, and the deadline arrives at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
