Vikings Pull off Most Significant Trade in Years
The Minnesota Vikings are really doing it. If your seatbelt wasn’t fastened already, now’s the time to lock it in.
Vikings Pull off Most Significant Trade in Years
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah pulled off the club’s most significant trade in years on Friday, bartering with the Houston Texans for an extra 1st-Rounder in this year’s draft, a signal he plans to flip the pick, along with existing draft capital, into the Top 10 for a quarterback of the future.
A bombshell tweet, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport broke the news Friday morning: “A Draft Trade!! The Vikings and Texans have agreed to terms on a major deal in advance of the draft, per me and Tom Pelissero, landing Minnesota another 1. Minnesota gets No. 23 and No. 232. Houston gets No. 42, 188 and a 2025 2nd rounder. MIN moves up, HOU collects.”
Vikings Receive:
No. 23
No. 232
Texans Receive:
No. 42
No. 188
2025 2nd-Round pick
Editor of PurplePTSD Josh Frey, a sister site to VikingsTerritory, provided context: “So, basically, in exchange for Danielle Hunter No. 42, and a ’25 second, the Vikings have gotten Blake Cashman, Jonathan Greenard, and No. 23.”
Minnesota let Kirk Cousins walk earlier this week to the Atlanta Falcons, where he signed a four-year deal for $180 million. That was too rich for the Vikings’ blood — probably way too rich — and the purple team now needs a quarterback for life after Cousins.
The trade with Houston rapidly accelerates the theory. Adofo-Mensah is now equipped to flip the trade fruit from the deal with the Texans into a Top 10 pick — maybe Top 3 — for a player like North Carolina’s Drake Maye. Minnesota now has enough ammunition to move up the draftboard and do business with the New England Patriots, for example, a club that owns the third overall pick.
Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling tweeted about the transaction, “So now the Vikings have picks No. 11 and 23 in the first round. If they want to make an aggressive move up for a QB, they’re in better position to do it without giving away years of first-round picks.”
This year’s quarterback draft class is incredibly deep. 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. The Vikings’ trade with Houston feels like an extreme precursor to landing Williams, Daniels, Maye, or McCarthy.
And events could move quickly. Vikings fans shouldn’t be surprised one iota if Adofo-Mensah completes “the next half” of the trade at any minute. There’s no reason to wait until draft night.
The Vikings haven’t drafted a quarterback in Round 1 since 2014 and have never used a Top 10 pick on a quarterback.
The NFL Draft is less than six weeks 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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