Vikings Nopedy Nopes: Another Joshua Dobbs Trade, Kenny Pickett, Brian Flores Smoke
A weekend publication from VikingsTerritory, we present to you: the Vikings Nopedy Nopes of the week.
Vikings Nopedy Nopes: Another Joshua Dobbs Trade, Kenny Pickett, Brian Flores Smoke
The nopedy nopes are weekly Minnesota Vikings-themed items that we’re not buying. It’s a spin-off of our rumor mill, and we hope you enjoy. Here is the 24th batch of Vikings nopedy nopes in the series’ history.
The Nopedy Nope: The Vikings should package a 5th-Rounder via trade to grab Joshua Dobbs from the San Francisco 49ers.
Fansided’s Zach Presnell stepped up to the plate on Monday, publishing an article with a Joshua Dobbs trade theory to the Vikings — for the price of a 5th-Rounder. Minnesota would also receive a hypothetical 7th-Rounder for good measure in Presnell’s deal.
“The basis of this trade is simple. The Vikings would acquire Dobbs and move one of their fifth-round picks in 2025 to a 2025 seventh round pick,” he wrote. “The 49ers would move their depth quarterback to move their seventh round pick up two rounds. It makes sense for both sides. The Vikings only have three picks in the upcoming draft, so they would need for it to be some sort of pick swap to be worth it.”
Dobbs lived on the free-agent market in March, and the Vikings could’ve easily re-signed him then if he was a part of the 2024 plan. Instead, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah signed former San Francisco 49ers (Dobbs’ new team) quarterback Sam Darnold for one year and $10 million while drafting rookie J.J. McCarthy six weeks later.
Darnold is on tap to start for Minnesota in 2024 after J.J. McCarthy tore his meniscus in the team’s first preseason game and will miss the entire season.
“He’s a well-liked player in the locker room and he’s looked impressive in the preseason thus far,” Presnell said of Dobbs. “He dazzled the media and fanbases alike with an impressive rushing touchdown in his last outing. This isn’t a game breaking trade for the Vikings or 49ers, but it’s something that would make sense for both teams and it could make them both better. San Fransisco has no use for Dobbs anymore and Minnesota could use him back in their quarterback room.”
If Minnesota wanted Dobbs, they would’ve re-signed him in March or before. Sinking a 5th-Rounder into a Dobbs trade is loony.
Verdict: Nopedy nope.
The Nopedy Nope: Kenny Pickett, too, could be a Vikings trade target.
Sam Darnold is on tap to lead the team in Week 1 and beyond, but the 27-year-old has never found much success in the NFL. Too, the Vikings experienced three quarterback injuries last year to Kirk Cousins, Nick Mullens, and Jaren Hall, and the club evidently might need more oomph now behind Darnold, Mullens, Hall, and newly signed passer Matt Corral.
Insert Kenny Pickett, says CBS Sports. That website sized up 10 players who could be traded in 2024, with Minnesota as a possible landing spot for Pickett.
“Even after a relatively underwhelming summer, the Philadelphia Eagles would surely prefer to keep Pickett’s NFL experience onboard as insurance for Jalen Hurts. The ex-Pittsburgh Steelers starter has never enjoyed a better supporting cast,” CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin wrote.
The Steelers drafted Pickett in Round 1 two years ago, and they didn’t take long to trade him to Philadelphia this offseason. Russell Wilson and Justin Fields will take over at quarterback in Pittsburgh.
Benjamin then name-dropped the Vikings as a landing spot for Pickett and added: “That said, the Eagles are always in the business of collecting/flipping quarterbacks, and third-stringer Tanner McKee has shown enough poise to warrant No. 2 consideration in back-to-back years. Pickett is local to the Philly area, but he’d almost certainly sign off on a chance to get right back into a starting gig, adding to the appeal of another move.”
This would become an option if Darnold got injured. Otherwise, probably not. Minnesota has Nick Mullens at QB2.
Verdict: Nopedy nope.
The Nopedy Nope: Brian Flores is a terrible person.
Tua Tagovailoa spoke with The Dan LeBatard Show this week and claimed Flores, his head coach in 2020 and 2021, was awful for his development, a stark contrast from current Dolphins skipper Mike McDaniel.
“To put it in simplest terms, if you woke up every morning and I told you you suck at what you did, that you don’t belong doing what you do, that you shouldn’t be here, that this guy should be here, that you haven’t earned this right, and then you have somebody else come in and tell you, ‘Dude, you are the best fit for this,” Tagovailoa told the show’s hosts, implicating Flores as the culprit. “How would it make you feel listening to one or the other, you see what I’m saying?”
Miami employed Flores as its head coach from 2019 to 2021, and when Tagovailoa began to develop as a rookie, Flores often rolled with veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback during the 2020 campaign.
“And then you hear it, no matter what it is, the good or the bad, you hear it more and more, you start to believe that. I don’t care who you are. You could be the president of the United States, you have a terrible person telling you things that you don’t want to hear or probably shouldn’t be hearing, you’re going to start believing that about yourself,” Tagovailoa continued his ruthless critique of Flores. “And so that’s what sort of ended up happening. It was, it’s basically been what two years of training that out of not just me but a couple of guys as well that have been here my rookie year all the way until now.”
The Dolphins and Flores controversially broke up after the 2021 season, leading Flores to join the Pittsburgh Steelers as a linebackers coach in 2022. Meanwhile, the Vikings’ 2022 defense floundered, culminating in an embarrassing home playoff loss versus the New York Giants. So, they fired Donatell and hired Flores.
We don’t believe players like Andrew Van Ginkel or Stephon Gilmore, for example, would follow Flores to Minnesota if he were a terrible person.
Verdict: Nopedy nope.
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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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