Getty
Defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, formerly of the Minnesota Vikings.
The Minnesota Vikings are in the trade market for a starting wide receiver, but the franchise made a different sort of deal on Wednesday, subtracting a starter from the roster for draft assets instead of adding a player.
Minnesota flipped veteran defensive lineman Harrison Phillips and a seventh-round pick in 2027 to the New York Jets in return for sixth-round picks in each of the next two drafts. Dianna Russini and Alec Lewis of The Athletic broke the news via X.
“The Vikings are trading DT Harrison Phillips to the Jets, sources tell me and [Alec Lewis],” Russini wrote August 20. “New York continues to bolster its defensive line in the form of the seven-year veteran.”
Harrison Phillips Prove Reliable, Consistent Starter for Vikings Over 3-Year Run
GettyDefensive tackle Harrison Phillips, formerly of the Minnesota Vikings.
Phillips spent the past three years with the Vikings, playing in and starting all 51 regular-season games over that span. He played his first four years in the NFL as a member of the Buffalo Bills.
Minnesota inked Phillips to a two-year, $15 million contract extension in September of last year, which runs through the 2026 campaign. He will play the upcoming season 29 years old.
Phillips has never been an All-Pro or a Pro Bowler, though he was a consistent and reliable starter for Minnesota over the entirety of the joint tenure of head coach Kevin O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. The defensive tackle and former third-round pick helped the Vikings to playoff berths in 2022 and 2024.
Phillips was never a truly overwhelming presence along the line, though he did finish in the top half of the league at his position across the board last season. Pro Football Focus ranked Phillips the 88th best interior defensive lineman out of 220 players who saw enough snaps at the position to qualify.
His number grade was higher as a pass rusher than as a run defender, though both figures ranked him 103rd out of 220 qualifying players in those respective aspects of his game. Phillips finished last season with 15 quarterback pressures, 10 hurries and two sacks. He also tallied 21 stops, four batted passes and one forced fumble in 2024.
Vikings’ Additions of DTs Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave Made Harrison Phillips Expendable
GettyMinnesota Vikings defensive tackle Jonathan Allen.
Phillips became expendable when Minnesota signed a pair of daunting defensive tackles in free agency this spring: Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave.
Allen, a two-time Pro Bowler, inked a three-year deal worth $51 million, while Hargrave signed a two-year contract with a value of $30 million. Allen has 118 QB hits and 42 sacks over the course of his eight-year professional career, while Hargrave boasts 55 tackles for loss 45.5 sacks across his nine-year career.
Neither player is a great run stopper, and Phillips actually outshone both Allen and Hargrave in that regard with a mediocre season defending the run in 2024. That said, Minnesota’s investment in the DT duo was an investment in size across the defensive front and an ability to rush the passer from several spots across the front seven.
The Vikings also employ Pro-Bowl pass rushers Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, while second-year edge rusher and former first-round pick Dallas Turner is poised for a breakout campaign in 2025.
Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group’s family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible
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