Vikings Trade Ezra Cleveland to Jaguars for 6th Round Pick

The Minnesota Vikings have made a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars but it isn’t the trade most thought we’d be seeing between these two squads a couple weeks ago, when early trade rumors were floating. Instead, the Vikings are sending left guard, Ezra Cleveland, in exchange for a 6th round pick.

Vikings trade Ezra Cleveland to Jaguars

The #Vikings are trading standout guard Ezra Cleveland to the #Jaguars, per me, @TomPelissero and @MikeGarafolo. One of the better young players at his position, Cleveland moves on to beef up another O-line in exchange for a third-day draft pick. pic.twitter.com/uTItO1ECnE

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 31, 2023

I guess this one surprisdes me a little bit. Not the deal, itself, because I wrote over the weekend about how likely it was that Cleveland had played his final game as a Viking. What I’m a bit surprised by is the return Kwesi-Adofo Mensah was able to get for Ezra, who grades out as one of the better offensive guards in all of football.

Hell, we just gave up nearly the same thing for Josh Dobbs, who will hopefully only play QB for the rest of this season and then never step foot on a regular season field with a Vikings jersey on ever again. If Minnesota could have found a trade partner that Cleveland could have signed long term with, then he will be an offensive line staple for the next decade.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan