When the Vikings traded Percy Harvin to the Seahawks a year and a half ago, it was criticized by many as a foolish move by a team trading away one of the NFL’s most talented playmakers. Now it doesn’t look so foolish.
The Seahawks have now traded Harvin to the Jets for a conditional pick believed to be in the second, third or fourth round of next year’s draft, and that makes it look like the Vikings got a steal when they traded Harvin. Minnesota got a first-round pick and a seventh-round pick in the 2013 draft and a third-round pick in the 2014 draft.
With those picks, the Vikings drafted cornerback Xavier Rhodes in the first round last year, offensive lineman Travis Bond in the seventh round last year and running back Jerick McKinnon in the third round this year. Bond didn’t make the 53-man roster and is now out of the NFL, but Rhodes has started every game for the Vikings this year and McKinnon has shown a lot of promise as a rookie this year. That’s good value for the Vikings.
And it’s especially good value compared to what the Seahawks got out of it: A year and a half of Harvin’s services, most of which he missed with injuries, and now just a second-, third- or fourth-round pick from the Jets in a trade. It is true that Harvin played very well for the Seahawks in the Super Bowl, but the Seahawks’ defense played so well that they surely would have won that game without him. Harvin didn’t contribute much in Seattle.
Now we’ll see whether Harvin can contribute much in New York. He’s a great athlete with the talent to make plays as a runner, a receiver or a returner, and it’s possible that the Jets will end up with a bargain. But right now, the team that appears to have gained the most was the Vikings, by getting rid of Harvin when they did.