Minnesota, thinking it had a kicker problem, traded away a fifth-round pick for the Ravens’ Kaare Vedvik before the 2019 season.
Vedvik had an impressive showing in limited time with Baltimore, and with the Ravens already having Justin Tucker on the roster, they likely needed to find a trade partner.
That partner was the Vikings, whose kicker, Dan Bailey, was coming off a second consecutive season where he hit only 75% of his field goals.
But then something surprising happened. Bailey beat out Vedvik for the starting position, and Bailey finished the season by hitting more than 93% of his field goals. The Vikings ended up waiving Vedvik before the 2019 season.
To make matters worse for the Vikings, the Ravens ended up flipping Minnesota’s fifth-rounder for Jaguars defensive end Calais Campbell.
Campbell tallied 6.5 sacks last season and is coming off a third consecutive season in which he made the Pro Bowl.
To summarize, the Vikings traded their fifth-round pick for a kicker they didn’t keep, and Baltimore flipped it into a Pro Bowl pass rusher. Whoops…
