Everybody Has One Thing in Mind for Vikings
Dustin Baker
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The Minnesota Vikings very vividly need a quarterback of the future, and they’ll likely find one in three days.
Everybody Has One Thing in Mind for Vikings
That’s when the 2024 NFL Draft begins, and Minnesota has the ammunition to trade up the board for a quarterback of the future. According to Bleacher Report, such a trade is pretty damn imminent.
BR posted an article Monday morning, predicting the draft from head to toe, and regarding the teams most likely to fire off the biggest draft trade, Minnesota dominated the projections. About half of BR’s panel forecasted the purple team for the NFL’s top draft trade.
BR’s Gary Davenport wrote, “At this point, it almost feels like it will be more of an upset if this trade doesn’t happen. From the moment the Minnesota Vikings acquired No. 23 from the Houston Texans, speculation has run rampant that they would package it and No. 11 to move up and draft a quarterback. It’s almost as if fans and pundits alike don’t believe Minnesota’s professed confidence in San Darnold — likely because they have seen Darnold play.”
Darnold was added in March as a presumptive patchover quarterback to a rookie, who will probably be drafted on Thursday night.
“If I were Arizona Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort, it would take a lot to get me to pass on Marvin Harrison Jr., but the Los Angeles Chargers have holes all over the place — including the trenches on both sides of the ball. That can’t sit well with Jim Harbaugh, who could easily be planning to stockpile picks as Chargers brass makes smores at the RV Park,” Davenport wrote about the Vikings’ would-be trade partners.
On March 13th, Kirk Cousins formally left Minnesota, signing with the Atlanta Falcons for four years and $180 million. He isn’t coming back. Two days later, Vikings boss Kwesi Adofo-Mensah pulled the trigger on a pre-draft trade, grabbing an additional 1st-Round pick from the Houston Texans while offloading two 2nd-Rounders in the deal, plus a late-round pick swap.
Now, fans wonder which team will do business with Minnesota for the would-be trade, as 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) are likely companions.
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. Most Vikings loyalists believe the purple team will end up with one of the six.
BR’s Brent Sobleski also opined on the Vikings’ trade probability, “Someone is going to make a move into this year’s top 10 to select one of the elite QB prospects. It feels as inevitable as Thanos. But it’s still difficult to decipher exactly which team it will be at what spot for whom. The Vikings are the most likely option based on A) the organization’s desperate need for a starting quarterback and B) they already made a move to get a second first-round pick to have the ammunition necessary to make a deal happen.”
“Obviously, the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders are in play here as well, but neither presents the same leverage or assets as the Vikings. As such, Minnesota will do what most expect and complete a deal to land a new franchise quarterback, either with the fourth or fifth overall pick,” he concluded.
Sportsbooks believe Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy will be Minnesota’s choice, matching the purple team with +160 odds for landing the Wolverine. Vikings fans lean toward Maye from a predictive angle:
If Minnesota does capture a quarterback from Round 1 or 2, it will be the first time since Teddy Bridgewater a decade ago.
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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