A notable offseason domino that has yet to fall is the situation surrounding Jonathan Greenard. The former third-round pick out of Florida began his career with the Texans before signing with the Vikings in 2024 on a four-year, $76 million contract. The deal is just two years old, but so far it’s been a good investment. 

In his last season in Houston, Greenard had 52 tackles, 13 sacks, a forced fumble and two passes defensed. In 2024 with the Vikings, he had 59 tackles, 12 sacks, four forced fumbles and three passes defensed. Greenard was viewed as one of the best pass rushers in the NFL during that span, and he was still just 27 years old. But in 2025, he only played 12 games and finished the season on injured reserve after reaggravating a shoulder injury that required surgery in December. His productivity was sapped as he was hampered by that injury, with only three sacks last year.

Entering the offseason, it was reported the Vikings were looking to shop Greenard. Faced with a bit of a cap crunch and with a lot of money already tied up in Andrew Van Ginkel — not to mention the recent first-round pick they invested in Dallas Turner — Minnesota has been willing to move on for the right price.

However, his market has not materialized so far. With Raiders All-Pro ED Maxx Crosby dominating the trade talks for teams looking for help at edge rusher, Greenard was left out in the cold. It didn’t help that Minnesota’s asking price never really came down. A first-round pick was never a serious consideration, but they wanted a premium Day 2 pick plus more, while interested teams never seemed willing to go above a third.

Now, Greenard’s market is even more complicated to sort out. There are plenty of contending teams who could use a pass rusher of his pedigree, but he’s carrying a cap hit of over $22 million in 2026 that many teams simply can’t afford, at least not without a restructure. Greenard’s cap commitment remains high in 2027, as well, before two void years on his contract that don’t carry significant dead cap hits as currently structured.

On top of that, Greenard’s down 2025 season combined with questions surrounding his shoulder surgery have helped mute his market. If the Vikings are ever willing to accept a third-round pick in negotiations, talks could heat up quickly. That might happen as we approach the draft, or perhaps over the summer. Teams that miss on their draft targets at edge rusher may wish to circle back at the point and see if they can get Greenard.

Kansas City Chiefs

I’m not the first person to make this connection — it makes sense for a lot of reasons. Following the Trent McDuffie trade and after losing Jaylen Watson and Bryan Cook in free agency, the secondary is a big, glaring weakness for this team. But Kansas City’s need on the defensive line hasn’t changed. Outside of Chris Jones and George Karlaftis, they don’t really have any positive contributors against the run or especially in their pass rush.

Armed with an extra first-round pick, the Chiefs can probably afford to send one of their Day 2 picks to Minnesota for Greenard. Their second-round pick slots in at No. 40, which is most likely a little rich for this trade. But their third-rounder is No. 74, which is much more reasonable. They’d probably have to sweeten the deal, but they have three fifth-rounders that would be great for that.

The Chiefs have too many roster holes to fix everything just through the draft. If they have designs on competing for another Super Bowl in 2026 — which they do — they’ll have to look elsewhere. Kansas City could get a massive boost to their pass rush with this move, without breaking the bank from a draft picks perspective. They’d have to pull some cap chicanery to make it all work, but that’s doable.

Los Angeles Chargers

Personally, this would be my favorite fit for Greenard. After trading for Odafe Oweh from the Ravens at the deadline last season, the Chargers declined to match his ballooning market in free agency, instead watching him sign with the Commanders. Los Angeles did manage to bring back Khalil Mack on a one-year deal, but they need more.

Behind Mack and Tuli Tuipulotu, the Chargers are very thin at the edge defender position. They need to add depth there, if nothing else, and a premier pass rusher is what this defense is missing. Los Angeles still has the third-most cap space in the league and could easily absorb Greenard’s contract.

The only potential hiccup in this deal is the fact that the Chargers only have five total draft picks. They still have their first-, second-, and third-round picks, but on Day 3 they only have two picks. Teams generally like to accrue more draft assets, not trade them away when they already have a limited supply. Still, as I said with the Chiefs, Greenard is the perfect piece to slot into this defense, and the Chargers are expected to be contenders in 2026. Their free agency plan was criticized for lacking splash: this would qualify as splash.

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens are an interesting team to watch here. Famously, they had a trade in place for Crosby before rescinding the offer the night before the trade would have been official, citing a failed physical. Despite this occurring two days into the start of free agency, it had a minimal impact on the rest of the market given that Las Vegas had enough cap space to reabsorb Crosby’s contract and honor all their new signings.

The Ravens then signed former Bengals ED Trey Hendrickson to a four-year, $128 million deal in lieu of sending those two first-round picks to the Raiders for Crosby, but I don’t think they’re done adding at pass rusher. Hendrickson is a star, but Baltimore didn’t have a single edge player reach four sacks in 2025. Hendrickson isn’t enough to fix their pass rush woes on his own, and though the Ravens are hoping for an improvement in Year 2 from 2025 second-round ED Mike Green, betting on that might not be safe.

Clearly, Baltimore was willing to fork over some premium picks for a pass rusher before, though they pivoted to Hendrickson to save those picks. Greenard wouldn’t cost nearly as much as Crosby would have, and he’d form an excellent tandem with Hendrickson while Green could be more of a rotation piece instead of an entrenched starter.

Additionally, the Ravens have 11 picks in the upcoming draft, including a second and a third. They have the ammunition and the need, so this spot makes plenty of sense.

Other teams to watch: Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, Chicago Bears