December 9, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Two Dallas Cowboys helmets sit in the long run zone earlier than the sport in opposition to the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. Necessary Credit score: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports activities
The Minnesota Vikings all of the sudden have a crowded linebacker room, and a few imagine that might result in a summer season commerce involving Blake Cashman, with the Dallas Cowboys even listed as a selected touchdown spot final week.
Minnesota might ask for draft capital, although shifting Cashman would create a brand new defensive drawback.
The Vikings might additionally simply preserve Cashman to protect depth, however Tony Adame prefers the Cowboys commerce concept.
The Cashman Commerce Principle Will get Difficult
Would you commerce Cashman?
Minnesota Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman (51) meets with Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) following Minnesota’s residence victory on Sep. 22, 2024, at U.S. Financial institution Stadium in Minneapolis. The veteran defender helped lead Brian Flores’ protection throughout one other sturdy early-season exhibiting as gamers exchanged phrases after the ultimate whistle. Necessary Credit score: Brad Rempel-Imagn Photographs
The Cashman to DAL Principle
The upcoming 2026 marketing campaign is the ultimate 12 months of Cashman’s contract, that means, in principle, a commerce would possibly make sense.
Heavy‘s Tony Adame picked the Cowboys as a smart touchdown spot, noting, “The Dallas Cowboys have done a pretty commendable job of solidifying their defense over the last year. What’s left is inside linebacker, where a trade with the San Francisco 49ers for Dee Winters looks smart, but doesn’t seem like the complete solution the Cowboys need at that spot.”
“In this case, that could mean swapping a Day 3 pick for Minnesota Vikings inside linebacker Blake Cashman, who Pro Football Focus NFL reporter Bradley Locker put on his list of the top NFL trade candidates just 2 months out from training camp. Cashman’s salary for 2025 — $7.5 million — isn’t an insurmountable number for the Cowboys.”
Cashman is definitely one of many Vikings’ finest gamers, and for a crew that already traded Jonathan Greenard to the Philadelphia Eagles final month, donating two defenders to the NFC East could be a little bit bizarre.
Adame continued, “He also wouldn’t come with the headache of dealing with someone else on the trade block — someone like Miami Dolphins inside linebacker Jordyn Brooks, who led the NFL with 183 tackles in 2025.”
“Brooks would almost certainly want a pricey extension following a trade, which is the whole reason behind his beef with his current team.”
PFF Places Cashman on Commerce Block
This began at PFF. Locker recognized 15 prime commerce candidates this summer season, and on Cashman, he wrote, “Once the centerpiece of Minnesota’s fabulous defense, Cashman could be on the move after a down year. In 2025, Cashman didn’t look like the strong linebacker of the last two years. His overall PFF grade dipped from 72.0 to 63.6, punctuated by his 48.6 PFF coverage grade.”
“Nevertheless, he was good as a downhill player with a 7.7% run stop rate and a 5.3% missed tackle clip. In light of Cashman’s decline as well as this being the final year of his contract, the Vikings drafted linebacker Jake Golday in the second round as well as extended Eric Wilson. That suggests that either he or Ivan Pace Jr. could have their days numbered in purple.”
So, sure, at its core, this can be a PFF-driven speculation.
The Golday Draft Choose
The Vikings entered the 2026 offseason with meaty questions at off-ball linebacker. Eric Wilson was on faucet without cost company; in the meantime, Ivan Tempo Jr. was a restricted free agent. Minnesota had curiously launched two rookie linebackers close to the tip of the 2025 common season: Kobe King and Austin Keys.
Minnesota Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman (51) celebrates after recovering a free ball in the course of the second quarter in opposition to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Nov. 10, 2024, at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville. Officers later dominated the play useless, wiping away the return, although Cashman’s vitality continued to spark the Vikings’ protection all through the afternoon matchup. Necessary Credit score: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Photographs
In February, the depth chart was very a lot The Blake Cashman Present. Then, interim normal supervisor Rob Brzezinski prolonged Wilson’s contract for 2 extra years after his phenomenal 2025 marketing campaign. Tempo Jr. returned, too.
With Cashman, Wilson, and Tempo Jr. within the combine, the ILB corps felt adequate. However Minnesota selected to develop into even deeper, drafting Golday in Spherical 2, a spot the place it moderately might have chosen a security, cornerback, middle, or operating again.
Subsequently, Minnesota has a plan for Golday; spending 2nd-Spherical capital on a participant isn’t carried out whimsically. It’s simply that buying and selling Cashman due to the Golday choose doesn’t fairly add up. Cashman is productive.
Cashman Too Good to Commerce?
Suppose Adame is right, and the Vikings choose to commerce Cashman to the Cowboys or elsewhere. The crew would return to suspect ILB depth, counting on Wilson and Tempo Jr. to begin, with Golday within the chamber.
Minnesota Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman (51) reacts after forcing a defensive cease throughout fourth-quarter motion in opposition to the Detroit Lions on Dec. 25, 2025, at U.S. Financial institution Stadium in Minneapolis. Cashman fired up the house crowd late within the divisional showdown as Minnesota’s protection battled to guard momentum in a important NFC North matchup. Necessary Credit score: Matt Krohn-Imagn Photographs
The Vikings would possibly be capable of limp by in that situation, nevertheless it simply looks like smarter roster development to maintain Cashman, who’s an asset, not a bargaining chip. He tabulated 144 tackles in 13 video games final 12 months, a tempo that might’ve translated to 188 in 17 contests. 100 and eighty-eight tackles would’ve ranked ninth-most in NFL historical past in a single season. That’s no joke.
Cashman turned 30 two weeks in the past. He seemingly has at the very least 3-5 strong years left.
Dustin Baker is a novelist and political scientist. His second novel, The Invaders , is out now. So is … Extra about Dustin Baker
