ESPN Analyst Issues Draft Warning to Vikings Fans
Dustin Baker
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It ain’t gonna be cheap.
ESPN Analyst Issues Draft Warning to Vikings Fans
That’s the word from ESPN’s Field Yates regarding the Minnesota Vikings would-be trade up the board in nine days for a quarterback of the future.
Yates used the X app on Monday, formerly known as Twitter, to warn Vikings fans that a trade into the No. 4 or 5 spot won’t be affordable — not by a longshot.
“I see this sentiment a lot from Vikings fans in regards to the cost of a trade up from 11 to 4 or 5. While 11 and 23 for 4 or 5 does align on the draft value charts, those charts don’t account for the competing offers that will drive up the price or the QB premium. I really think the cost of a trade up would be 11, 23 and more valuable chips,” Yates tweeted.
Until the Yates comments, indeed, Vikings fans tended to believe a trade with the Arizona Cardinals at No. 4 or Los Angeles Chargers at No. 5 could be “discounted” compared to a deal with the New England Patriots at No. 3, for example.
But Yates dialed that all the way back this week.
Minnesota executed a trade on March 15th out of nowhere, grabbing an additional 1st-Round pick from the Houston Texans while offloading two 2nd-Rounders in the deal, plus a late-round pick swap. Kirk Cousins, who quarterbacked the club for six years, left two days prior, and Minnesota is presumably on deck to draft his replacement on April 25th.
Would be trade partners for the next passer include the Washington Commanders (Pick No. 2), the New England Patriots (Pick No. 3), the Arizona Cardinals (Pick No. 4), or the Los Angeles Chargers (Pick No. 5).
Meanwhile, quarterbacks Caleb Williams (USC), Drake Maye (North Carolina), Jayden Daniels (LSU), Michael Penix Jr. (Washington), J.J. McCarthy (Michigan), and Bo Nix (Oregon) are expected to go off the board in Rounds 1 and 2.
Per sportsbooks, the purple team is favored to end up with Maye or McCarthy, with McCarthy holding the slight edge (+110) for the last few weeks. It’s just that, per Yates, nabbing either man via trade won’t be cheap.
Moreover, Vikings fans have spent the last month debating the trade price, mostly stuck on donating next year’s 1st-Rounder in the hypothetical trade. Well, according to Yates, adding a 2025 1st-Round pick may be mandatory no matter what.
The Vikings have never used a Top 10 draft pick on a quarterback.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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