Conditions of T.J. Hockenson trade finalized after Vikings playoff loss

The Vikings will get a better draft pick in return for the T.J. Hockenson trade after losing to the Giants in the Wild Card round.

Back in November, when the Detroit Lions traded tight end T.J. Hockenson to their division rival Minnesota Vikings, the exact terms of the trade were not completely set in stone. While the majority of the framework had been established, there was one pick that was conditional—meaning it could change depending on game/player outcomes after the trade has been made.

Here’s a reminder of what the trade terms were:

Lions get:

• Vikings 2023 second-round pick
• Vikings 2024 third-round pick

Vikings get:

• T.J. Hockenson
• 2023 fourth-round pick
• Conditional 2024 fourth-round pick

The condition: if the Vikings win a playoff game, that conditional pick drops to a 2024 fifth-round pick. In other words, if the Vikings do well as a result of the trade, the Lions will not have to send back as much trade capital as originally agreed upon. However, if the Vikings don’t win a playoff game, that pick remains a 2024 fourth-round pick.

On Sunday night, the Vikings played New York Giants in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, and they lost. That means the pick will stay a fourth-round pick. The good news for Detroit, though, is that the second-round pick will now be higher than if Minnesota had won. It isn’t much, but that pick will now land 24th in the round (55th overall) instead of somewhere between 25 and 32 in the round. Combined with the Lions’ 6th, 18th, and 48th picks, the Lions will have four picks in the top 60. Not too shabby.