The NFL trade deadline has come and gone without any deadline-day action from GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and the Minnesota Vikings.

It wasn’t a totally quiet deadline for the Vikings, of course, as they acquired Cam Robinson from the Jaguars last week to fill in for injured star Christian Darrisaw at left tackle. They also added running back Cam Akers in mid-October.

But the Vikings didn’t do anything on the defensive side of the ball, nor did they make any sort of major splash to upgrade a 6-2 team. Akers is a quality RB2 and Robinson was a win-now pickup as an injury replacement, but questions remain about some of this team’s weaknesses moving forward.

Perhaps the most glaring need was a defensive tackle with some pass rush juice. Of the 90 DTs who have played at least 200 snaps this season, Jerry Tillery ranks 76th and Jonathan Bullard ranks 90th in PFF pass rush grade. They were never realistically going to land Dexter Lawrence or Jeffery Simmons, but someone like Calais Campbell or Osa Odighizuwa could’ve made a major difference.

A cornerback, ideally one who could help both now and in the future, would’ve also made sense. Instead, the Vikings will move forward with what they have at both DT and CB.

To be clear, Minnesota’s lack of draft capital was a factor here. The Vikings have just their first-round pick and two fifth-rounders in next year’s draft, plus a likely third-round comp pick to come. That’s why they traded a late-round swap in 2026 for Akers and a fourth-rounder in 2026 for Robinson. Then again, it’s worth noting that they have so few picks because they gave up so much (a 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 across the 2024 and ’25 drafts) in a series of deals that resulted in the Dallas Turner pick this year.

This also isn’t Madden’s franchise mode; the Vikings weren’t going to make deals for the sake of making deals. The right opportunities had to be available, and there’s no way of knowing what kind of offers Adofo-Mensah sent out or received that didn’t come to fruition.

The Vikings appear to have a high ceiling this season. The recent additions of Akers and T.J. Hockenson, plus the move to get Robinson, mean this offense can go as far as Sam Darnold takes it. Defensively, they’re currently No. 1 in the league in DVOA and should get Blake Cashman back as soon as this week. They’re 6-2 with plenty of winnable games coming up, starting this Sunday against the 2-7 Jaguars.

But questions remain about the VIkings’ interior pass rush, interior offensive line, and cornerback play. None of those went addressed before the deadline. Whether that was the right move, based on this team’s draft assets and outlook for 2024 and beyond, is open for interpretation.