The Vikings added four players on the second night of the draft. That's still not the headline.

Minnesota traded defensive end Jonathan Greenard to the Eagles, in a move that entailed both teams proceeding quietly and discreetly while Greenard went to Philadelphia to take a physical.

After the Vikings made their Day 2 picks, executive V.P. of football operations Rob Brzezinski addressed the decision to trade Greenard.

"This is not something we're jumping around excitedly about, but we do feel like we [did] the best thing for the organization moving forward," Brzezinski said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN — who described the mood as "somber."

So why not just give Greenard the four-year, $100 million deal he received from the Eagles? With Will Anderson recently moving the market at the position to $50 million per year, paying Greenard half that amount doesn't seem to be a ridiculous amount.

"We have just spent so much money the last several years that it's not sustainable for us to move forward," Brzezinski said. "Our salary cap situation has been very, very challenging."

That's the price for going all-in a year ago, despite not having a viable plan at quarterback. They surely didn't sign Greenard in 2024 with the goal of keeping him for two years. And so they opted to seize on the opportunity to roll the dice on a pair of younger, cheaper players in the form of a third-round pick in 2026 and a third-round pick in 2027.

The onus now falls on the front office (which currently doesn't have a G.M.) to get the right players, and on the coaching staff to develop them into contributors. And then to manage the cap in a way that allows them to reward and retain their best players.