Lunchbreak: 3 Vikings Among ‘Top 20 Traded Players’ in NFL History

[Viktor]

Trades happen every season around the NFL.


Every so often, though, a trade of a talented player stands out as a marquee transaction. NFL.com’s Elliot Harrison recently looked back over NFL history and opined the “top 20 traded players,” a list that included three Vikings who were traded to or from Minnesota. He wrote:


To determine who the top traded players are, shouldn't what they did afterward count? If a guy can only produce with one franchise, or only in that one team's scheme, is he really an elite player? If you only count how prolific a player is before he was traded, then what about all those who were incredible after they were dealt?


All three Vikings are now in the Hall of Fame, starting with (in reverse order of Harrison’s listing) Paul Krause, who was ranked at No. 15. Minnesota acquired the safety from Washington in 1968. Krause went on to play through 1979, when he retired as the league’s all-time interceptions leader with 81 – a number that likely will never be caught.


Before he was traded to the Vikings and started four Super Bowls for Bud Grant’s Minnesota teams, he was a standout safety for the Redskins. Krause led the league in interceptions as a rookie with 12, and over four seasons in Washington, he totaled 28, which would be a career figure for some folks. In the days when the free safety’s job was often to play a roaming center field, Krause was the most dangerously effective. He didn’t mind taking a chance on jumping a route, consistently providing the Vikings offense with a short field. Krause helped Minnesota improve from a three-win team to eight wins during his first season there. Partially due to his ball-hawking skills, the Vikings allowed the fewest points in the league every year from 1969 to 1971.


Coming in at No. 11 on Harrison’s list was Hall of Fame receiver Randy Moss, who played for the Vikings from 1998-2005 before being traded to the Raiders. He was traded by Oakland in 2007 to New England, and in 2010 Moss rejoined the Vikings after a trade with the Patriots.


And just ahead of him at No. 10, the highest-ranked Vikings player by Harrison, was Fran Tarkenton. The quarterback was traded to the Giants by the Vikings in 1967 but in 1972 was traded back to Minnesota.


The second deal listed above is the one worth focusing on. Big Blue never really recovered from the retirement of Y.A. Tittle following the 1964 campaign – even acquiring the ever-scrappy Tarkenton, who competed his butt off for the Giants, couldn't fix that. Whereas by the early ’70s, the Vikes had drafted great talent on the defensive side of the ball, including 1971 MVP Alan Page (a defensive tackle). All they needed was a solid QB. Tarkenton gave them a Hall of Fame-caliber signal-caller, taking Minnesota to the Super Bowl three times while winning an MVP himself in 1975.


Harrison’s top three traded players of all time were WR Paul Warfield (Browns to Dolphins, 1970), RB Marshall Faulk (Colts to Rams, 1999) and LB Ted Hendricks (Colts to Packers, 1974; Packers to Raiders, 1975).