Vikings Draft May Have a Big No-Brainer
Minnesota Vikings fans will learn the identities of four new players in a slightly over a week when the 2025 NFL Draft kicks off.
Vikings Draft May Have a Big No-Brainer
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah possesses the fewest picks in the NFL this go-round due to a trade last year that grabbed Alabama pass rusher Dallas Turner.
And because he has just four picks, one Vikings draft item is becoming somewhat inevitable — a trade back from the No. 24 position.
A Trade Down the Board Feels like a No-Brainer
From the moment Adofo-Mensah pulled the trigger on the expensive Dallas Turner trade one year ago, he might’ve known that his trade agenda would escalate 12 months later.
Here we are.
Four draft picks in a single event is an astoundingly small amount, and if Minnesota wants youth in the pipeline — on a roster it considers a bonafide Super Bowl contender as early as now — the most logical way to obtain more selections is a trade back from pick No. 24.
In fact, Adofo-Mensah could snowball the trade scheme, perhaps trading his 24th pick to the early 30s, and then again to somewhere into Round 2. The process could fetch the purple team 2-4 extra picks from Rounds 2, 3, and 4.
The simplest way to analyze it is this: if the Vikings want more than four rookies on the roster (non-UDFAs), Adofo-Mensah is virtually required to trade down on draft night.
The Latest Buzz from Tony Pauline
SportsKeeda‘s Tony Pauline, a renowned NFL insider, name-dropped Minnesota as a trade-down candidate this week.
He wrote, “Sources presently put the over/under on trades in the first round at three, a little more than a week away from the event. I’ve mentioned several times that I believe the Arizona Cardinals, who hold pick No. 16, could be a flashpoint for a team that wants to jump in front of the Cincinnati Bengals and draft an edge rusher.”
“Yet people believe the Atlanta Falcons, the team selecting just ahead of the Cardinals, could be the spot teams jump up to. They point to the fact that the Falcons would be open to moving down as they own just five draft picks this year, including a pair in the final round, and they could still get a good frontline defensive player late in the first. The other team I’m told could be on the move downwards is the Minnesota Vikings.”
That doesn’t leave much to interpretation — Adofo-Mensah could be chomping at the bit to wheel and deal.
Pro Football Focus Agrees
PFF labeled three teams that are the most likely to trade on draft night in eight days, and along with the Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minnesota got the nod.
Trevor Sikkema opined, “The Vikings are the most obvious trade-down candidate in the 2025 NFL Draft. They have only four draft picks: their own first- and third-rounders, Cleveland’s fifth-rounder and San Francisco’s sixth-rounder. Most importantly, they have their pick in the first round at No. 24 but then do not pick again until No. 97 in the third round.”
“Knowing this, Minnesota correctly made a big splash on the offensive and defensive lines during free agency. But even with those parts of the roster shored up a bit more, you want more than four draft picks in a single class. The pick they can use to manipulate that number the most is, obviously, No. 24.”
It’s worth noting that Adofo-Mensah already has a pronounced reputation for trading during the draft, so such maneuvers in 2025 are not groundbreaking.
“The best-case scenario for Minnesota is that one or more quarterbacks are still on the board whom the Browns or Giants would be interested in trading up for, assuming they don’t pick one at Nos. 2 and 3 to start the night. This would allow the Vikings to get at least one extra Day 2 pick in return, and could likely net some Day 3 selections, too,” Sikkema concluded.
Mid-Round Selections as the Target
Minnesota can probably slide back about 15 spots and still draft a rookie they covet, perhaps one with Round 1 grade on its big board.
For example, Adofo-Mensah could do business with the New York Jets and seize the 42nd overall pick, plus a 3rd- and 4th-Rounder. The deal would balance on most trade calculators.
That would quickly grow the draft pick total to six instead of four, and Minnesota wouldn’t be prevented from trading again, conceivably a shimmy back from its 97th overall spot, the draft pick obtained via the compensatory process after Kirk Cousins‘ exit to the Atlanta Falcons in 2024.
But it all starts with trading back at No. 24. Sticking-and-picking — which isn’t the worst idea in the world —would make the trade bonanza next to impossible unless Adofo-Mensah plans to dip into the 2026 draft piggybank.
Players Ruled Out after Trade Back
Suppose Minnesota indeed fulfills Pauline’s and PFF’s prophecy. These players could be sacrificed, depending on the lay of the land at pick No. 24:
- Jahdae Barron (CB, Texas)
- Kenneth Grant (DT, Michigan)
- Omarion Hampton (RB, North Carolina)
- Derrick Harmon (DT, Oregon)
Most expect the purple team to target a cornerback, offensive guard, defensive tackle, or safety with its first pick — whether at No. 24 or after the proposed trade.
You must be logged in to post a comment.