Report: Vikings Won’t Be Shy about Trading during Draft
The 2024 NFL Draft is exactly eight weeks away, and the Minnesota Vikings hold their highest pick since 2015 when the club selected cornerback Trae Waynes from Michigan State.
Report: Vikings Won’t Be Shy about Trading during Draft
The Vikings are scheduled to pick 11th if they don’t trade up or down the board on draft night and are expected to choose a quarterback, defensive lineman, or perhaps even cornerback.
And according to Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling, Minnesota won’t be hesitant to trade up the board for its quarterback of the future, especially if Kirk Cousins leaves in free agency. March 11th is the start of free agency with “legal tampering.” On that day or soon after, Vikings fans should learn the Cousins verdict.
Regarding the Vikings’ would-be bold philosophy of trading up on draft night, Goessling claimed on the Access Vikings podcast that general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah won’t be deterred. “If they were to say, ‘We have to be in the top five to get one of these guys, or the top two or three to get one of these guys,’ I don’t think they’re going to let that hold them back. I really think, based on the way they operated last year and the things I’ve heard, if they see there is an opportunity to get the guy of the next 20 years, they are not going to let something stop them from doing it.”
The Vikings have never used a Top 10 draft pick on a quarterback, so Adofo-Mensah doing so would undoubtedly make purple history.
Goessling added, “I really believe, based on how they think about this position and some of the things I’ve heard about the ways they may approach this draft, I just don’t think they’re going to be pennywise and tomfoolish. They’re not going to be spendthrift about it.”
Some Vikings fans have reservations about “trading the farm” for a rookie quarterback, chiefly because the draft is such a crapshoot. Of all six passers expected to go off the board in Rounds 1 and 2 in 2024, at least half are nearly guaranteed to fall short of expectations. And, of course, Vikings fans, already a cynical breed, feel that could happen to Minnesota with a splashy quarterback trade.
However, the Vikings have never won a Super Bowl or spent a Top 10 pick on a quarterback, so perhaps now is the time to change. Try something different.
If Goessling is correct, and the Vikings trade up the board on draft night, Adofo-Mensah would likely target Caleb Williams (USC), Drake Maye (North Carolina), or Jayden Daniels (LSU). Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy could be chosen in the Top 10, too, but is unlikely to climb into the Top 3.
The NFL Draft is 56 days away.
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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