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The Vikings' Tuesday trade deadline move to acquire tight end T.J. Hockenson from the Lions gave fans a jolt of confidence and led Minnesota to be included on the "winner" side of the inevitable trade deadline winners and losers that followed.
"You add Hockenson to that list of weapons, and defenses have to get pretty nervous about who they're dealing with," Doug Farrar wrote at USA Today. "It's an outstanding all-in move for this 6-1 team, and they didn't have to pay an all-in price to do it."
That's a pretty good summary of the move, which I broke down on Wednesday's Daily Delivery podcast.
But the day was even better for the Vikings. In that same piece, their other three division foes were labeled trade deadline losers: the Lions for giving away Hockenson, the Bears for making a series of confusing moves, and the Packers for not adding a wide receiver to a struggling offense.
The Bears reportedly swooped in and nabbed receiver Chase Claypool after the day began with the Packers looking like the favorites to land him.
"We're now dealing with a 3-5 team with major holes on both sides of the ball, talent that isn't matching up to the results, and the inevitable conclusion that 2022 is a waste year at this point," Farrar wrote in his summary of Green Bay.
In more local Packers coverage, an article summed up how social media roasted Green Bay for not being able to make an upgrade — particularly after QB Aaron Rodgers had hinted Claypool was a trade target.
Former Packers executive Andrew Brandt tweeted: "I hear your complaints, Packer fans, but as I tell them: 'What part of 'Packers' do you not understand?' They do not play in the quick-fix free agent or trade game; they just don't. 'Draft and Develop'; I know it's frustrating to many."
That didn't do much to assuage fans. One response to Brandt's tweet:
So in summary: The Vikings, who lead the NFC North by 3 1/2 games, added a game-changing tight end to an improving offense. The rest of the division fell even further behind in one way or another.
After an October during which the Vikings went 4-0 and every other division foe went a combined 2-12, the first day of November was pretty good as well.
