According to ESPN’s Field Yates, the Minnesota Vikings have traded cornerback Mike Hughes to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. The Vikings will also send the Chiefs their 2022 seventh-round pick.
Hughes was selected by the Vikings with the 28th overall pick in 2018 but never realized his potential coming out of UCF. Although Hughes returned an interception for a touchdown in his first career game, he suffered a multi-ligament knee injury in October of 2018.
Hughes cracked the starting lineup in 2019 but suffered a neck injury that kept him out of the playoffs. After playing just four games in 2020, the Vikings went on a spending spree in free agency, adding Patrick Peterson and Mackensie Alexander to make Hughes the odd man out.
The Vikings will go into offseason team activities with Peterson and Cameron Dantzler locked into starting roles but face uncertainty with 2020 first-round pick Jeff Gladney after accusations of domestic assault.
Hughes departure does clear the way for Alexander, Harrison Hand and Kris Boyd to battle for the final spots heading into offseason team activities.
