NFL RUNNING BACKS ON THE MOVE : A 12-for-1 Swap for Walker : Trade: Cowboys get five players and seven draft choices from Vikings in deal for running back.

Herschel Walker shed his Dallas blues Thursday, moving to Minnesota in a deal that gave the Cowboys five players and seven draft choices and may give the Vikings a chance at returning to the Super Bowl in the near future.

“Depending on how things work out over the next three years, yes, we could have mortgaged our future for the good of the 1989 and 1990 teams,” Viking General Manager Mike Lynn said after completing the trade.

“We’re interested in winning our division, interested in going to the Super Bowl and interested in winning the Super Bowl. And we felt that the last piece of the puzzle, the last spoke on the wheel, was a running back. And not just a running back, but a marquee running back.

“If we don’t win the (NFC) Central Division, if we don’t get to the Super Bowl while Herschel Walker is a member of the Minnesota Vikings, then we have not made a good trade.”

Walker, who received a reported $1 million from the Cowboys to accept the trade, will play for the Vikings Sunday against the Green Bay Packers in Minnesota, though Lynn said he doesn’t expect Walker to make more than a cameo appearance.

At a news conference at Viking headquarters, Walker called himself “just another athlete coming to try to help this team win.

“I haven’t won that many games with the Cowboys,” he said. “It’s great to be on a winning team. . . . This is a good opportunity for me.”

In 1988, Walker became only the 10th player in National Football League history to gain more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage during a season. Walker, 27, in his fourth NFL year after three years in the United States Football League, expressed dissatisfaction with how he was used this year in Dallas’ pass-oriented attack.

Going to the Cowboys were four Viking regulars, if not always starters--linebackers Jesse Solomon and David Howard, cornerback Ike Holt and running back Darrin Nelson. Rookie defensive end Alex Stewart, who has spent the season on the injured reserve list, was included in the deal.

In addition, the Vikings gave up their first-round draft choice in 1992.

The Cowboys also got six “conditional” draft choices over the next three years--two first-round picks, three second-round picks and one third-round pick.

“We have the right to decide at any time what those conditions are,” Cowboy owner Jerry Jones said. “Everything must be settled over the next three years. It’s our call. This is a draft-oriented trade.”

Nelson at first said he might not report to Dallas. However, Cowboy Coach Jimmy Johnson said after talking with Nelson: “Darrin was upset, but he’s going to be here.”

Nelson said the Cowboys (0-5) got the best of the deal: “(The Vikings) gave up too much . . . an awful lot on defense.”

Counting the draft choices as players, the Vikings (3-2), in effect, traded 12 players for one.

It was the league’s biggest trade since the 1987 three-team deal that sent Eric Dickerson to the Indianapolis Colts, Cornelius Bennett to the Buffalo Bills and Greg Bell, Owen Gill, three first-round draft choices and two second-round picks to the Rams.

Johnson said: “Herschel is a great player with a great attitude. It was difficult for him, but he’s going to a team that can contend for a Super Bowl. We’re rebuilding.”

Added Jones: “The draft picks we got will give us a chance to build for the future and the players we got will enhance our competitiveness in 1989.”

In 1987 and ‘88, the 6-foot-1, 226-pound Walker gained a total of 3,625 yards rushing and receiving. His 1,514 rushing yards led the NFC in 1988, when he also caught 50 passes for 505 yards.

Solomon, 25, led the Vikings in solo tackles each of the past two seasons but injured his knee late last year and needed major surgery. He started one game this year.

Howard, 28, started most of the last 3 1/2 seasons but may have lost his job to newcomer Mike Merriweather if Solomon was healthy.

Holt, 27, was a sometime starter the last three years before Reggie Rutland beat him out in 1988. Holt returned an interception 90 yards for a touchdown in last week’s victory over Detroit.

Nelson, 30, has gained 4,016 yards in his eight-year career, topped by 893 in 1985.

Stewart, 25, was an eighth-round draft choice out of Cal State Fullerton this year.