Vikings acquire Ravens kicker Kaare Vedvik for 5th-round pick in 2020
At least one team in the NFC North has finally solidified their roster at kicker.
The Minnesota Vikings are sending a fifth-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft to the Baltimore Ravens for Kaare Vedvik, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
We have traded kicker Kaare Vedvik to the Minnesota Vikings for an undisclosed draft pick, pending the passing of a physical. pic.twitter.com/JhfkeEyvLp
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) August 11, 2019
Trade: Ravens are sending kicker Kaare Vedvik to Minnesota in exchange for a 2020 5th-round draft pick, per league source. Vikings could wind up using Vedvik as their kicker and punter.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 11, 2019
It’s certainly a steep price for a kicker, but there was plenty of competition out there to land the 25-year-old from Norway. With the Ravens set to go with Justin Tucker again at kicker, Schefter reported Sunday morning that four teams had reached out to Baltimore about Vedvik’s availability.
The Chicago Tribune confirmed the Bears were one of the teams involved, leaving Minnesota with an opportunity to not only upgrade its roster but keep a talented player away from a division rival.
It’s not often a team trades a fifth-round pick for a kicker, as the Vikings are doing today for former Ravens’ kicker Kaare Vedvik. Here’s a look back at other trades for kickers: pic.twitter.com/rGgejNmopQ
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 11, 2019
Of all the teams involved here, it’s hard not to consider the Bears among the biggest losers with this development. The team has been using Eddy Pinerio and Elliott Fry in camp as they look to move on from a disastrous season with Cody Parkey in 2018 that ended with the double-doink loss to Philadelphia in the playoffs.
On Friday, former Colts punter Pat McAfee revealed that he was in talks to join the Bears as a kicker but his body fought back and made it too tough to continue getting ready to play.
This situation is playing out a year later than many expected. Vedvik was a hot trade target last preseason when he was assaulted in East Baltimore and left with head and facial injuries. The resulting placement on the non-football Injury list ended his season.
A year later he’s healthy, kicking well and ready to help whichever team wanted him most. He went 4 for 4 on field goals in the Ravens’ preseason opener with his longest make coming from 55 yards out. That he can also be used as a punter adds a level of versatility that not many other players boast.
Vedvik is currently in the second year of a three-year, $1.7 million deal that will see him become a restricted free agent in 2021.
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Blake Schuster is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at blakeschuster@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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