Trade Frontrunner Could Help Vikings Land QB
Last week, the Minnesota Vikings finagled a trade with the Houston Texans, sending two 2nd-Round picks to the Houston for the Texans’ 2024 1st-Rounder (Pick No. 23) and a late-round pick swap.
Trade Frontrunner Could Help Vikings Land QB
Yes, Minnesota now has two 1st-Rounders in April’s draft, more than any quarterback-needy franchise at the moment. Many viewed Minnesota’s swap with Houston as a precursor to another trade, including ESPN’s Matt Miller.
Miller tweeted Monday, 5.5 weeks before the draft, “Every time I look at the New England roster I’m stuck with four HUGE needs: QB, LT, WR, and CB. With two picks in the top 34 and four core needs, I could still see NE being a trade-out candidate (with Minnesota) to collect more draft capital this year and potentially wait for ’25 QB class if they don’t love a Bo Nix or Michael Penix.”
He also added to the tweet, “There is always a chance Eliot Wolf and Jerod Mayo say, ‘Let’s solve the biggest piece of the puzzle first’ and draft a quarterback at 3. But if they don’t love Maye/McCarthy, I wouldn’t crush them for a trade out to collect capital.”
And this checks out. It’s made sense for a couple of months, even before Minnesota pulled off the trade with Houston. Plain and simple: New England has more roster needs than “just a quarterback.” For years — to the tune of six championships — the Patriots got away with formulating a roster of “their kind of guys” to go along with Tom Brady. Yet, after Brady left four years ago, and now with Bill Belichick gone, the roster isn’t in good shape to be a quarterback away from contendership.
That’s why many have identified New England as a trade partner for the Vikings, a team that does possess an offense tailor-made for a rookie quarterback. With Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, Aaron Jones, Ty Chandler, Christian Darrisaw, and Brian O’Neill, a rookie quarterback can be plopped into Minnesota’s offense and expected to flourish, at least to some extent.
Who would the Vikings target if Miller is right and the Patriots greenlight the deal? Probably Drake Maye. There’s always a chance the draft gets funky, and Washington grabs Maye, but sportsbooks believe LSU’s Jayden Daniels will don the Commanders’ maroon in September.
Finally, a Patriots trade with the Vikings could weaponize and accelerate New England’s roster construction, enabling Jerod Mayo and Co. to use 3-4 picks in the next two years for the price of one. A naysayer might counter, “Why would the Patriots pass on the chance to draft Maye or Daniels if they need a quarterback?” Well, New England would still own the Vikings’ 11th overall pick and could, in theory, draft J.J. McCarthy (Michigan) or Michael Penix Jr. (Washington), for example.
The trade will probably be there for the taking if the Patriots are interested. They must ask themselves if the roster is ready to enable Maye’s optimal development — or if it’s better to fortify it with high-round picks.
Miller believes the latter is more likely.
Vikings Make Rare Announcement
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.
You must be logged in to post a comment.