Questions Answered: Trade with the Patriots, Jayden Daniels Smoke, the 23rd Pick
Dustin Baker
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The following questions are about current Minnesota Vikings topics, answered by VikingsTerritory. Today is the April 18th edition, addressed in a from-the-hip fashion. If you have questions, please email them to [email protected].
Questions Answered: Trade with the Patriots, Jayden Daniels Smoke, the 23rd Pick
Also, please note: These are opinion-based responses. Some answers will be incorrect from time to time. But we’ll try to keep that to a minimum.
Q: The Patriots say they’re open for trade business. Do you believe the Vikings pull the trigger?
Answer: We do, yes.
“We’re open to anything. Moving up, moving down. We’re open for business in the first round and every round,” defacto New England Patriots general manager Eliot Wolf said Thursday.
This essentially means if the Vikings spend enough — we think they’re willing to do so — Drake Maye can be obtained by the purple team. We’ve agonized over the Drake Maye v. J.J. McCarthy choice as a prediction, but we ultimately believe Minnesota will draft Maye, and this is the path — a trade with the Patriots.
Q: The Vikings are meeting with Jayden Daniels on Thursday night. Did they save the best for last?
Answer: Not necessarily. We consider it diligence.
In an offseason where Kirk Cousins vamoosed to the Atlanta Falcons, it would be weird if the Vikings didn’t meet with every single upper-echelon rookie quarterback. Daniels is merely the last one to meet.
His agent’s tweet from Thursday was ultra-interesting, though:
Q: Do you think Minnesota hangs onto its 23rd pick and drafts a defensive player?
A: No.
Our stance is the 11th and 23rd picks — and probably next year’s 1st-Rounder — will be shipped to the New England Patriots, Arizona Cardinals, or Los Angeles Chargers. The only way the 23rd pick will stay in Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s coffer is if Maye or McCarthy begins a dramatic, unforeseen draft slide.
We’ve already conceded that Minnesota won’t use the 23rd pick. For better or worse.
If they somehow retain the 23rd pick, a defensive tackle like Byron Murphy II or Johnny Newton would be pretty sweet. So would a cornerback like Nate Wiggins or Kool-Aid McKinstry.
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 MIN 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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