The 2025 NFL Draft has come and gone, and the Minnesota Vikings did a lot to improve their roster during the three-day event. The biggest addition comes from their first-round pick, former Ohio State offensive lineman Donovan Jackson. Jackson figures to come in and compete for a starting spot from Day 1 — if he’s not penciled in as a starter already. Minnesota desperately needed to beef up in the trenches on both sides of the ball, but particularly along the offensive line. The acquisition of Jackson accomplishes that goal, but that’s not the only area they improved.
Along with Jackson, the Vikings also improved their depth at the most important position in football, if not all sports, the quarterback. While they didn’t make any moves to supplant the assumed starter, J.J. McCarthy, they did make a trade on day 3 to improve their backup situation. The Vikings flipped a fifth-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks to acquire Sam Howell and a sixth-round pick.
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Minnesota also moved to improve their depth along the defensive line and added to depth at tight end and linebacker on day three of the 2025 NFL Draft. One area of weakness on the roster that the Vikings didn’t address was their need for more bodies in the defensive backfield. It was a bit curious to see the Vikings opt for players at tight end and linebacker — lesser needs — over defensive back, but the move likely signaled that the team was confident they could address the need in post-draft free agency.
There are still a number of good veterans available on the free agency market, and the team at PFF recently released their top landing spots for some of the best free agents still available. In their piece, they have designated the Vikings as a great spot for former Green Bay Packers defensive back Rasul Douglas. Douglas could come in and provide the Vikings with a much-needed replacement for Stephon Gilmore, who is also a free agent.
Author Ryan Smith quickly points out that Douglas is coming off a “disappointing season” in which he finished as the 102nd cornerback — out of 116 qualifiers at the position — by PFF overall grade with just a 53.9 grade. However, the previous season, in 2023, Douglas notched the best PFF grade of his career with an 81.0 overall grade. If a change in scenery can get Douglas back to the player he was in 2023, he could provide the team with a great defensive back who is a good fit in defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ defensive scheme.
The Vikings did make moves in the offseason prior to the 2025 NFL Draft to address their needs at cornerback, signing former Lions first-round pick Jeff Okudah, among others, but they could still use another body or two to round out the roster and see some good competition come pre-season.
This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: NFL Offseason: Vikings linked to former Packers DB as possible signing