EAGAN, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings on Saturday announced they have traded defensive end Stephen Weatherly to the Denver Broncos.
The Vikings did not disclose terms of compensation for the sixth-year pro who had played primarily on special teams this season in his return to Minnesota.
Originally a seventh-round pick by the Vikings in 2016, Weatherly spent his first four seasons in Minnesota. He appeared in 49 games during that time, making seven starts and recording the first 3.0 sacks of his career in 2018. An additional 3.0 sacks followed in 2019.
Weatherly spent 2020 with Carolina, where he started all nine games he played for the Panthers before a season-ending injury.
He was part of a group of free agents who returned to Minnesota this offseason, but Weatherly only played 82 defensive snaps (20 percent) through the Vikings first six games of 2021.
Minnesota has relied heavily on Danielle Hunter, who returned from injury, and Everson Griffen, who re-joined the team after playing 2020 in Dallas and Detroit. Second-year pro D.J. Wonnum has been next in the rotation behind Hunter and Griffen.
Weatherly also contributed on special teams, playing 114 snaps this season (64 percent of Minnesota's snaps).
The Vikings (3-3) are on their bye in Week 7; the Broncos fell to 3-4 on the year with a loss Thursday to the Browns in Cleveland.
The exchange continued the relationship between Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman and Broncos General Manager George Paton, who was hired in Minnesota by Spielman in 2007. Paton held numerous roles on his way to becoming the Vikings Vice President of Player Personnel/Assistant General Manager.
Spielman fielded questions from media members on Tuesday, including about the possibility of trades before the Nov. 2 deadline. He said the Vikings would "monitor everything like we always do."
"I think we have, it's starting to show a little bit, we have some good depth where some teams may be looking at our depth, as well, that have inquired about some guys. So we'll just see how it all evolves," Spielman said. "The one thing I know is you want to make sure you have good enough depth, especially with 17 games, plus the postseason that you know you're going to have to deal with injuries and every team is going to have to deal with it at some point. Some are dealing with it right now. That's why they're looking for more depth, but you don't want to trade too many guys away."
View photos of the Vikings 53-man roster as of Jan. 5, 2022.

1 K Greg Joseph

1 K Greg Joseph

3 P Jordan Berry

16 P Jordan Berry

7 CB Patrick Peterson

7 CB Patrick Peterson

8 QB Kirk Cousins

8 QB Kirk Cousins

11 QB Kellen Mond

11 QB Kellen Mond

12 WR Dede Westbrook

12 WR Dede Westbrook

14 QB Sean Mannion

14 QB Sean Mannion

15 WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette

15 WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette

17 WR K.J. Osborn

17 WR K.J. Osborn

18 WR Justin Jefferson

18 WR Justin Jefferson

20 CB Harrison Hand

20 CB Harrison Hand

22 S Harrison Smith

22 S Harrison Smith

23 S Xavier Woods

23 S Xavier Woods

24 CB Mackensie Alexander

24 CB Mackensie Alexander

2 RB Alexander Mattison

2 RB Alexander Mattison

26 RB Kene Nwangwu

26 RB Kene Nwangwu

3 CB Cameron Dantzler

27 CB Cameron Dantzler

29 CB Kris Boyd

29 CB Kris Boyd

30 FB C.J. Ham

30 FB C.J. Ham

31 RB Wayne Gallman

31 RB Wayne Gallman

4 RB Dalvin Cook

33 RB Dalvin Cook

35 TE Luke Stocker

35 TE Luke Stocker

41 LB Chazz Surratt

41 LB Chazz Surratt

42 LS Andrew DePaola

42 LS Andrew DePaola

44 S Josh Metellus

44 S Josh Metellus

45 LB Troy Dye

45 LB Troy Dye

48 LB Blake Lynch

48 LB Blake Lynch

52 G Wyatt Davis

52 G Wyatt Davis

55 LB Anthony Barr

55 LB Anthony Barr

56 C Garrett Bradbury

56 C Garett Bradbury

58 DT Michael Pierce

58 DT Michael Pierce

59 LB Nick Vigil

59 LB Nick Vigil

64 T Blake Brandel

64 T Blake Brandel

69 T Rashod Hill

69 T Rashod Hill

74 G Olisaemeka Udoh

74 G Olisaemeka Udoh

75 T Brian O'Neill

75 T Brian O'Neill

78 G Dakota Dozier

78 G Dakota Dozier

83 TE Tyler Conklin

83 TE Tyler Conklin

85 WR Dan Chisena

85 WR Dan Chisena

90 DT Sheldon Richardson

90 DT Sheldon Richardson

92 DT James Lynch

92 DT James Lynch

91 OLB Patrick Jones II

91 DE Patrick Jones II

94 DT Dalvin Tomlinson

94 DT Dalvin Tomlinson

96 DT Armon Watts

96 DT Armon Watts

98 DE D.J. Wonnum

98 DE D.J. Wonnum
As for a trade to bring a new player in, Spielman said the Vikings would have to consider salary cap ramifications for this season and beyond. He also pointed out it can be harder in football than baseball or basketball for a player acquired midseason to make a big difference.
"It is hard when you do make trades for someone to come in, not only to learn a system, get acclimated to the locker room, get comfortable with everything. That takes some time," Spielman added. "Unlike other professional sports, whether it be baseball and sometimes basketball or other areas, this is such an 11-on-11 team game that it takes some time to create that chemistry."
"The way our defense kind of started out a little slow and the way you see our defense has really started to come together, especially over these last couple weeks and how well they're playing, I think the last two games we've created five turnovers," Spielman added. "Well, that's a bunch of guys playing together for the first time, where now they're getting in game situations, and you see them getting more and more comfortable, like I said, not only with the scheme but with each other, knowing where each other's going to be on the field, and so on and so forth. So we'll always keep an open eye on things."