Vikings acquire Mark Fields from Chiefs for conditional 2021 pick

Fields is an undrafted free agent from Clemson who was involved in an odd preseason controversy involving ESPN and Kansas City head coach Andy Reid.

August 31, 2019 at 10:59PM
Cornerback Mark Fields caught the ball during training camp for Kansas City.
Cornerback Mark Fields caught the ball during training camp for Kansas City. (Howard Sinker/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Mark Fields runs during NFL football training camp Friday, Aug. 2, 2019, in St. Joseph, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
(Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

It seemed throughout training camp as though the Vikings might make a move to add secondary depth to their roster before Saturday's deadline to cut rosters down to 53 players. They kicked off cutdown day with a trade to help their defensive backfield.

The team acquired cornerback Mark Fields from the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for a conditional seventh-round pick in 2021. Fields, a Clemson product the Chiefs signed as an undrafted free agent, showed some promise through training camp, but struggled as the preseason went on. The Vikings, though, are ostensibly betting on their ability to coax something out of him in their system now that he's heading to Minnesota.

The cornerback was the subject of an interesting exchange in the middle of the preseason, when ESPN NFL analyst Todd McShay — who was part of the broadcast team for a preseason Chiefs-Packers game — seemed to be caught on the air relaying information from coach Andy Reid, expressing skepticism about Fields, during a commercial break. Fields was called for a pair of pass interference penalties and a face mask penalty during the game.

Nonetheless, he'll get his chance to help the Vikings, who'll need some cornerback depth until Mike Hughes makes his return to the field.

about the writer

about the writer

Ben Goessling

Sports reporter

Ben Goessling has covered the Vikings since 2012, first at the Pioneer Press and ESPN before becoming the Minnesota Star Tribune's lead Vikings reporter in 2017. He was named one of the top NFL beat writers by the Pro Football Writers of America in 2024, after honors in the AP Sports Editors and National Headliner Awards contests in 2023.

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