Before the NFL trade deadline would close at 4 PM ET on November 1, the Minnesota Vikings traded for tight end T.J Hockenson from their NFC North divisional rivals, Detroit Lions in exchange for a 2023 second-round pick and a 2024 third-round pick. The Vikings also gave a 2023 fourth-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick to the Lions in return, as reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
If the Vikings win a playoff game, the 2024 conditional fourth-round pick that Detroit sent will become a 2024 fifth-round pick.
In seven games this season, Hockenson, 25, has 26 receptions for 395 yards and three touchdowns and moves from a 1-6 Lions team to table toppers Vikings who hold a 6-1 record after eight weeks.
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As tight end Irv Smith Jr. is expected to miss eight to 10 weeks after suffering a high ankle sprain in Sunday’s win over the Arizona Cardinals, he immediately fills a need for the Vikings at the tight end position. Smith was placed on the injured reserve list on Tuesday.
Brock Wright, who has six receptions for 88 yards this year for the Lions, will take Hockenson’s place as the starting tight end for the team.
Hockenson was selected eighth overall in the 2019 NFL Draft and registered 32 receptions for 367 yards and two touchdowns that year.
He was selected to his first Pro Bowl in 2020 after finishing the year with 67 receptions for 723 yards and six touchdowns in 16 starts.
In the current season, the 25-year-old has 26 receptions for 395 yards and three TDs.
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Hockenson is now under a two-year contract with the Vikings as the Detroit Lions picked up his fifth-year option before the start of the 2022 NFL season.
They owe him $536,000 in 2022, but they will pay him $9.3 million the following year. Hockenson is expected to become a free agent after the 2023 season.
He holds the Lions record for most receiving yards in a game by a tight end after receiving for179 yards on eight catches in a Week 4 loss to the Seattle Seahawks that he set this season.
