The Vikings have successfully found a trade partner to take second-year offensive tackle Vederian Lowe after a few days of searching, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2. The team will send him to New England in exchange for a sixth-round pick.
Minnesota selected Lowe in the sixth round of last year’s draft after Lowe ended his college career with consecutive seasons of All-Big Ten honorable mention. Lowe, the 31st best tackle in college football his senior year, according to Pro Football Focus, was brought in presumably to add depth behind starting offensive tackles Brian O’Neill and Christian Darrisaw. With Lowe now out, Oli Udoh and Blake Brandel are the team’s top backups at tackle.
It’s not completely clear whether Lowe failed to meet Minnesota’s expectations as a backup or if he was too valuable to keep stashed without playing opportunities or if maybe Lowe himself was the one who wanted out. Regardless, the Vikings will likely be satisfied with the return of some draft capital in this exchange.
Lowe will now have a new opportunity with the Patriots to compete for playing time. The recent preseason injury to presumptive starting right tackle Riley Reiff and Calvin Anderson‘s status on the non-football injury list made tackle depth a necessity. Whether or not Lowe gets serious run at the right tackle job in the absence of Reiff and Anderson, his presence should have the Patriots feeling a bit better about their depth. Lowe joins Conor McDermott, newly acquired Tyrone Wheatley, and Andrew Stueber as the team’s healthy tackle options across from Trent Brown.