After a surprising move in waiving DL Armon Watts, the Minnesota Vikings made a trade for Houston Texans DL Ross Blacklock.
Buy Vikings TicketsTrade! The #Vikings are acquiring DT Ross Blacklock from the #Texans, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 30, 2022
A former top-40 selection, Blacklock was a solid player for the Houston Texans but excelled as a pass rusher. Over his two seasons, Blacklock saw his PFF grades rise year-over-year with a high at 66.4 in pass rushing.
This is clearly viewed as an upside move by Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as the Texans defense has been abysmal over the last two seasons. Moving on from Watts is curious, as he was a more versatile defender. While Watts was a good pass rusher, he is a much better run defender than what Blacklock is currently.
The difference between the two must not have been significant enough to give up capital and save around $1 million in cap space. It also could mean that other moves are on the horizon.
Be sure to keep tabs on all the Vikings roster cuts with our tracker.
